


Not All Stories Have a Happy Ending

by KelliDiane



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Hockey AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-08
Updated: 2013-06-08
Packaged: 2017-12-14 07:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 32,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/834111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KelliDiane/pseuds/KelliDiane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Andy Samuels has been traded. His replacement, Niall Horan, doesn’t really impress the team captain, Zayn Malik.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not All Stories Have a Happy Ending

**Author's Note:**

> Written with NiallJWhoranX on Tumblr.

Zayn stood at his locker taping up his new stick. He broke his last one in the game against Niagra University, but he needed a new one anyway. He saw that Samuels’ gear had been cleared out and cleaned for the new trade from Colorado College.

Being team captain, he knew that Samuels would be a tough guy to replace at left wing. They needed someone to keep up with his speed and Harry's agility. He turned to the locker room and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Alright, boys. We're getting fresh meat today. I don't expect you to take it easy on his ass. We're the Cornell Red Bears. We don't take fucking Colorado Buffalo shit. We take him and put him through hell. We're the number one seat for a reason and I'll be damned if some fucking punk tries to ruin that. Alright? Now bring it in."

A locker room of twenty three boys piled their hands in the centre of the room. "Bears on three! One, two, three!"

"BEARS!"

\------------

Niall nervously paces down the hallway of the school. He has a duffel bag over his shoulder and he can hear the soft tapping of his shoes. There's a map of the school in his hand. When he looks up he sees that he's reached the locker room. He turns the handle poking his head in.

"Hello?" He maneuvers around the metal door tugging on the strap of his bag.

No sooner had the team finished, the new guy shows up. Zayn analyses him and automatically thinks this is a joke.

The kid is short and lanky and not very menacing. He looks more suited for the soccer team then the hockey team, but he decides that the new kid needs to learn the hard way that he's not built for this.

"Boys, it's feeding time. The fresh meat is here." He yells over the slight chatter that had picked up again.

Louis Tomlinson, the best defence man Cornell had seen in years, doubles over in laughter. "He's smaller than me. Please tell me you're just carrying the new guy's equipment for him."

Niall quirks an eyebrow in their direction. If they were going to joke with him well he could joke back. "No, I'm him. And I guess I am smaller than you when you're wearing your mum's heels." He shrugs trying not to be too arrogant. When they got on the rink they'd be eating their words.

Harry laughed slapping Louis' back. "He's got you there."

Zayn shot a glare at Harry. "Styles, I want fifty sprints across the rink, net to net, before and after practice. Tomlinson, finish up."

He picks up his stick and whams it against Samuels’ old locker stall. "Hey, buffalo! This is yours. I want everyone on the ice in two minutes or you're all doing suicides. That includes you, buffalo. Two minutes." He heads out to the ice to start warming up.

Harry groans having half a mind to flip Zayn off, but he doesn't want to add something like push-ups to the list. He jogs off towards the exit.

Niall doesn't flinch. He tugs his shirt and jeans off stripping down to get changed. He figures since he's new it’s like one of those frat boys hazing pledges sort of situation. He takes his time barely making it before the two minute mark.

Zayn is actually pretty pissed off that the new kid made it in time. All he needed was another fifteen seconds. He huffs, but realises that he's captain and that the coach put him in charge of drills and warm ups.

"Alright, ladies. Glad you all could make it. I said two minutes. Do you know what I got? Two minutes and five seconds. So, thanks to Mister Buffalo, you're all doing suicides. Styles! What sprint you on? Hurry up! We're doing suicides next!" He gets the team stretching and trying to get them ready to go.

Harry snaps his head to say something to Zayn. He's not looking where he's going one skate fumbling over the other. Before he has time to stick out his arms he lands on his chest hard.

"Fuck! Shit." He groans rolling over onto his back.

Niall bites his lip to hold in the laughter.

The whole team is laughing, minus Liam Payne- first string defence man with Louis and Harry's boyfriend. He quickly skates over to the fallen player and starts gingerly touching at his chest, searching for damage. "Dammit, Harold. I've told you a thousand times not to look backwards while skating. You can barely keep your balance on solid ground. Why would you even think that ice would be any better?"

Harry pouts rubbing at his sternum, which he's pretty sure is bruised. "I'm very coordinated excuse me." He crosses his arms, wincing at the small action. He hit the ground harder than he originally thought.

Liam rolled his eyes. "In the bedroom, yes. Everywhere else, no."

He runs a hand up Harry's jersey to make sure everything's fine and sighs in relief when feels the chest pad snugly in place. "Just be more careful. You could have broken a rib and fractured one. If your face hit, it could have been your nose!"

Harry gasps cupping his face. His face is the last thing he wants damaged. "Babe, you would know how skilled I am behind closed doors."

Niall looks at the team then to the two on the ice. "You guys gay too?"

Zayn turns a murderous glare on the blond (he still hasn't learned his name, but Buffalo seems just as good as any). "Why you have to say it like that? 'You guys gay too?' What? Was there a guy on your last team that liked dick and you didn't like him either? You got a problem with them, then you have a problem with me." He skated over to stand in front of the new guy and tower over him. He never let up on the glare. He continued to glare as he barked out orders.

"Styles, on the bench. Get some air. The rest of you, line up for suicides. We're going to do them until you're crying. Let's go!"

Niall laughs, hard. He of all people is being accused of homophobia. It’s so funny he's already crying but not from skating. "Mate, the gay guy on my last team was me."

Harry sighs collapsing onto the bench. He wants to participate not be on the sidelines. He almost gives himself whiplash looking at the new kid after that confession.

Louis groans. "You realise that Harry and Liam are going to try and set you up now. They know every homosexual on campus. Tell them what you like and you'll have a guaranteed fuck buddy in minutes."

"That is not true! I will not find you a fuck buddy. I will find you romance and love." Liam squawked indignantly.

Zayn doesn't back down. "Well good for you. Now get your fucking twink ass out there and line up for suicides."

Niall glares going to the line up. He taps his chin to answer their questions. "Tall... Dark... And hot... Like I could burn myself."

Harry giggles like a girl shaking his head, helmet lying on the bench besides him. Maybe he could like this guy. "Wait, new kid! What's your name?"

"It's Niall. Thanks for being the first one to ask. Guess you have to when your captain isn't reliable enough to do it first."

Zayn just huffs. "Shut the hell up, Buffalo! This is hockey, not fucking match dot com." He grabbed the whistle the coach leaves in the penalty box for his use and heads down to the end of the line to join them.

"Styles, you're in after ten. Remember, down to one end and back as fast as you can. Wait till I blow the whistle to start the next one. Three, two, one..."

He blew the whistle loudly and took off of the line.

Niall's quick, always has been. The ice glides underneath the thin metal blades of his skates. He has a firm grip on his stick. He's already finished with the first one before half of them can make it halfway. He leans against his stick tapping his mouth with his palm, yawning.

\------------

Zayn is fucking pissed. It's been thirty minutes of suicides later and most of the team is dead, except the new guy is acting he hasn't been on the ice all day. Time for a new drill.

"Alright, fucksticks, new drill. I want half of you on this side of the ice and the other half at the other end. Line up against the boards. Josh, since you're goalie, I want you dropping the puck."

He waited till the team was divided and in place. "You're going to start here and charge the puck when Josh drops it. You're then going to continue and try to check the other into the board. You're gonna learn to take a hit and give a hit."

He scanned down the line until he found his intended target. "Buffalo! Move to the front of your line. You and me are first."

Niall saw this coming. He really just wanted to come here quietly, but that had backfired. "It's Niall." He waits till the puck slaps the ground before he's flying down the ice. His elbows are up and knees bent to gain speed. Zayn's coming up fast too.

Zayn knows the trick to this drill- he taught it to the coach after all. He hangs back slightly letting the blond get the puck before barrelling up behind him and slamming him hard into the boards, face first. He skates back and finds himself smirking under his helmet. "Fucking shake it off, Buffalo. This is hockey, not fucking figure skating. Get to the back of your line."

Niall smashes against the glass. Jesus no one else hits that hard. He rubs at his helmet. If he didn't have that he might have started spitting out teeth.

"Oh I'm shaking it off." He mumbles skating back to the line. If this is what they did every practice he'd be in massive amounts of pain.

Zayn let the drill run through till it came to the new guy and him once more. "You want to go again or do you need a break?"

It wasn't a sentiment. Either the bitch could say yes and get another beating, or he could say no and they'd move on puck slaps. The team's fate was in Buffalo's hands.

Liam, who was the next in line to Zayn, was shaking his head no trying to get Niall out of eating plexiglass again.

Niall moans removing his helmet for a moment. His blond hair is sweaty and ruffled, strands sticking to his slick cheeks and forehead.

"I'll take a break, Jesus." Niall's not a testosterone filled male. He knew when to give in and his body was screaming at him.

Harry stares at Zayn. "Being a little harsh today."

"You're already doing fifty sprints after practice. Keep talking and I'll make it seventy five." Zayn spat.

He turned to the rest of the team. "Alright. Since Buffalo needs a break, practice is extended half an hour. Anyone else need to go grab some bench?"

Liam bites his lip knowing it's a trap and that Zayn will extend practice a half hour for every guy that takes a break. When no one says anything, Liam exhales in relief.

"Good. Buffalo, get your helmet back on. We're running puck slaps. Hope your gear is secure."

Niall situates it back over his head mentally and physically preparing himself. Puck slaps, he had amazing control and dexterity. He can dominate in this. He waits for further instructions, stick tightly gripped between his hands.

Liam glides over to Niall and stops next to him. "Hope you know these aren't normal puck slap drills. Zayn and the coach are more about the players holding up against pain and cheap shots."

Louis groans and shuffles over to Zayn. "Who's in the execution line up?"

Zayn looked over at the brunet and smiled. "Starting six of course."

He scans the ice looking for the player he needs. "Grimshaw," he sighs when two brothers' heads shoot up. "Nick, go get the bag of a hundred count pucks. Devine, Styles, Tomlinson, Payne, and Buffalo- line up. Bringing in the firing squad."

Nick nods skating off in search of said bag.

Niall slips his fingers along the back of his neck scratching. He made his way over stick in front of him. He's tired.

Louis skates up and lines himself between Harry and the new kid. "Remember, boys. They can take our lives, but they can never take our freedom!"

Liam laughed as he lined up on the other side of Niall. "Just try not to flinch. They feed off you pain. Also, you might want to put your stick to the side. No protection in puck slaps."

Zayn drops his stick and glides over and lines himself up with Josh. He watched as Nick lined up the pucks for the rest of the guys. "Head shots are out. Everywhere else is fair. Line up! Ready? Aim. Fire!"

A puck went flying through the air, straight towards Zayn and he looked over to see the rest in the same situation.

Niall ducks what's flying towards his face despite it being a rule that it didn't count. He has his stick to the side hitting the pucks in succinct slap shots. One of them cuts through the air towards Zayn while the other hits Josh in the chest.

Harry's hiding behind Liam. He hated these drills.

Zayn hissed as the pucks rain down around him. Then he saw the blond deflecting them with him his stick. He grits his teeth and tries to yell over the barrage of rubber discs. "Buffalo, stick down. This isn't deflecting. Take it like a man! Let's go!"

Louis looks over and his body jerks he continues to be hit over and over with a puck. It's like he's in a war movie and he's being riddled with bullets.

Liam does his best to shield Harry from the onslaught. "Zayn! Switch the lines!"

The darker male shook his head. "Not until Buffalo does it right."

Niall groans dropping his stick. If he was going to make it through practice he might as well listen. They never did these types of drills back in Colorado.

"There you happy?!" He shouts.

Harry peeks over Liam's shoulder feeling like a bit of a baby.

"Not really!" Zayn shouts back.

Another minute or two goes by before Zayn calls it quit and yells at them to huddle up. "Coach is out at a wedding till Friday. I'm running practice till then. I have a paper due Friday so no practice tomorrow. I'll leave the rink open during normal practice in case any of you sods want to practice."

His starting line is a mess. They look like they're ready to pass out. "Hit the showers. Good practice, boys."

Niall skates off the ice walking across towards the locker room. He's not really tired and of all of them he's not hunched over or dragging his feet. He unlaced his skates slipping them off. He sighs happily his feet no longer aching. He tugs his jersey off now shirtless and sweaty.

Louis steps into the locker room and groans as he peels the sweaty jersey from his torso. "I think I just need to sleep for three days."

Liam nodded and stretched. "I'm just glad he let Harry do that second fifty sprints on Friday. Now he just needs to get off the ice himself. That'll never happen." He rolls his eyes and looks over at Niall. "You might want rub some muscle relaxant on yourself. That or take an ice bath. You're going to hurt tomorrow."

Niall smirks wiping strands away from his face. "Eh, I've been checked by girls scarier than him, and a lot stronger. Besides I'm not exhausted at all." It’s true, he's not tired but he is sweaty.

Harry's sitting on the bench leaning back against his locker. "How are you not? I'm aching and I'm not the one who got body slammed by Zayn."

Louis nods. "I'm always glad we're on Zayn's team when we scrimmage because he hits hard. He broke some kid's nose when we played Niagara U."

"He doesn't care about anything except being his best." Liam chimes in. "He has dreams of playing for the Capitals or the Redwings and he'll tear everyone in his way down."

Louis scoffs. "It doesn't help that coach is never here and Zayn practically runs our team."

"Word of advice," Liam finishes, "avoid him at all costs. The guy you're replacing was his other half."

Niall shrugs carelessly. "I wasn't trying to replace anyone. I just got transferred. The school pays me." He pulls on a blue polo ruffling his hair with his hand. "I'll admit I think I have a bruise forming on my jaw, but I'm fine."

Harry rests his face against Liam's thigh. "So you're gay."

Liam smiles fondly down at his boyfriend and tangles his fingers through the chocolate coloured ringlets and scratches at the scalp below. "Tall, dark, and hot is what you like? We can look around and see who on campus would be interested. I'd say Zayn, but he's so caught up on Andy being traded and that affecting his game that he really won't focus on anything but the game."

Louis laughs lightly. "That's why I like being the only one in our group who likes birds. Eleanor won't bottle up her anger and frustration. She'll let me know immediately when I did something or something is bothering her."

Niall makes a face shaking his head. "I don't want to date him anyway. He has it out for me." He finishes buckling the belt looped around his jeans. "Besides I'm not part of your group. I'm Buffalo remember?"

Harry purrs quietly snuggling his face against Liam.

"Whether or not he likes it, you are part of the group. Your hazing is done. He'll be his normal fun self tomorrow." Louis shrugs.

Liam pats Harry's head and pushes him off lightly to go get dressed. "Well, he doesn't call anyone by their first name on the ice. He thinks it detaches him from the rest of us."

Harry whines heading to his locker to change.

Niall shrugs. "Guess we'll see tomorrow then. And hazing? This sounds more like a frat than a hockey team."

Liam shrugs. "We're a family. You have to trust your family."

Louis sighs and finishes changing. "I'm going to go check on grumpy and then head to the mess hall to meet El. Lord knows she's already upset that I'm late."

Niall ignores them the rest of the time he's getting ready. This didn't feel like a family.

\------------

Zayn sat in the locker room looking at the roster. There was no way he was putting Buffalo as the left wing on his first line. He ran a hand through his quiff.

Maybe if he took Stan off second line and traded him with Buffalo... That could work.

He looks at the clock and realises he has five minutes until the other boys file in. He ruffled through his sports bag putting everything in his locker. He couldn't wait to kick Buffalo's ass on the ice.

Harry's leaning into Liam's side while walking alongside Louis and Niall. "So what team are we scrimmaging against? Or are we just splitting the team?"

Niall opens the door to let everyone else in. He walks to one of the nearest lockers setting his bag down.

"We normally just split the team since the closet school is two hours away, but we really need a scrimmage since we have a game tomorrow." Louis shrugs.

Liam laced his fingers with Harry's and headed inside. "Captain! What's the play for the day?"

Zayn looked up from where he was taping up his fingers. "Bumping Stan up to left wing on first line and putting Buffalo on left wing second line. Need to be absolutely ready for the game tomorrow. It's quarter finals for the College Cup."

Harry's eyebrows knit together. "You didn't even give Niall a chance to see what position he deserved."

Niall wants to prove that he belongs, but this wasn't a sorority and he wouldn't start drama. "It's fine Harry, really."

Zayn furrows his brows. "I'm not saying Buffalo is horrible or anything. I just want Stan in line one since he knows the play book."

Louis slips out of his clothes and struts around the locker room. "Well quarter finals or not, we better win. Eleanor is promising a good night if we score. Just remember, we score, I score."

Harry laughs loudly. "I say we throw the game. Either way this game goes I score." He winks vivaciously at Liam.

Niall chuckles. "Well aren't you lucky? I've scored once... Sexually that it."

Liam squawks and pushes Harry away to get changed. "Watch it, Har-bear. You might not get any if you keep talking about it."

Zayn huffs. "If you all are done talking about often you get your dick wet, we have a practice to start. Five minutes, then get on the ice." He storms out towards the rink.

Louis, who had managed to get his pads and pants on, rolls his eyes once the door shuts. "Boy needs to get his dick wet... Or does he take the dick? Andy never really clarified."

Harry chuckles slipping his leg pads on. "Zayn's too domineering. He's probably the one who bent Andy over."

Much like last practice Niall was the last one out. He strolls out to the rink helmet in his hand.

Zayn looked up from his playbook. "Buffalo! You're on line two. Sean is centre and Ed is right wing. The Grimshaws are the defence men and Maz is goalie. You guys have ten minutes warm up."

Liam and Louis are already down the rink firing the puck between each other and Josh is blocking their shots. Stan and Harry are running patterns and trying to fill the gap that Andy left.

Niall skates across the ice getting into position. He glances at the others unsure of what to do. "Um, any drills you want me to do to warm up?" He looks at Zayn leaning against the stick securely planted on the rink.

The Grimshaws and Maz look up at the new kid and shrug. "I'd say ask Ed and Sean, but Ed is probably nursing a hangover and Sean just doesn't care."

Maz nods. "No one ever plays except the first line. Coach never makes substitutions."

"Although, now that Andy is gone, Zayn might be off his game. Sean might want to start caring." Aiden states as he swigs water from his bottle.

Niall sighs. "Yeah I was just hoping there was some chance I could somehow play." He skates to the bench collapsing onto it. He sets his helmet to the side sighing.

Zayn rolls his eyes. "Alright! Let's set up! Murs, you're referee. Grab the puck and let's go."

The extremely uncoordinated boy leapt from his place on the bench and shed his jersey. He grabs the puck and glides to centre ice.

Zayn slaps his stick against the frozen water. "Line one, attack formation. Defence, roundabout tactic. Devine... Head's up."

Niall sits back watching the scrimmage. He's hoping someone messes up so he could jump in, as selfish as that sounds.

Harry positions himself at right wing waiting for Olly to drop the rubber disc.

Zayn looks up and notices that the second line is down a player. Turning to the bench he sees the new kid sitting there like he doesn't have a care in the world. "Buffalo! Get the fuck out here and finish your line! Fucking dumbass! Do even know how to play hockey?"

"Zayn, maybe you should-"

"Fuck off, Liam. He doesn't belong here. He's a fucking buffalo. Not a bear." Zayn seethes and it pisses him off that the college traded Andy for this fucker.

Niall stands skating back out to his position as left wing. He really hadn't meant to piss Zayn off he just misunderstood him was all. "Okay! Okay I'm ready." He huffs in frustration.

"Now that everyone is on the ice, let's go." Zayn looks to Olly and the puck hits the ice seconds later.

Sean isn't fast enough though and Zayn snags the face off and quickly slaps the puck over to Harry. After the perfect back pass, he barrels forward into the second line's territory. He cuts to his right and heads towards the new left wing.

Harry maneuvers around Nick passing the puck to Stan.

Niall tries to dodge Zayn. He didn't even have the puck for Christ's sake yet he was aiming for him.

Stan fumbles the pass. He's not use to actually needing to be good. Ed manages to swoop in and steals the puck. He charges back towards the other end.

"Dammit, Stan! That was right fucking to you!" Zayn yells from where he's speeding down the ice. He's still got the blond kid (he should probably learn the kid's actual name at some point) in his peripheral vision.

Ed looks and sees Niall kind of open and sneaks past Harry only to come face to face with Louis. He panics and drops the pass back to Niall.

Harry glares at Stan trying to retrieve the puck back from Ed before he watches it glide across to the new kid.

Niall catches it with his stick skating around Zayn. He's speeding towards the goal dodging the others.

"Fucking bastard." Zayn picks up his speed and he's closing in on Buffalo and yelling at Harry to get the free puck and letting the curly haired boy know he was going in for the kill.

They're rounding the boards behind the net and Zayn smirks and throws his shoulder forward into the new guy's back right between his shoulder blades. He smiles in a sick sort of fashion as he feels the boy smash against the plexiglass and watches the puck slide right to Harry.

Niall knocks so hard his teeth rattle. He ends up falling back onto his ass, blinking a few times.

"Jesus, Zayn! Calm down!" Harry's guarding the puck but he's not making any move towards the goal. He's more concerned for Niall. Sure they were playing against each other, but they were on the same team.

"What? It was a legal hit. No illegal touching at all. Besides I can't just stop on a dime and tap him. This is collegiate hockey, not flag football." Zayn shrugs and steals the puck from Harry before speeding off down the ice.

Ed and Sean take off in pursuit and Liam tells Harry to get in the game. "He's fine, Haz. Probably just surprised. Now go help Zayn. You can't stop in a real game to help someone."

Niall gets to his feet skating back to his position. He sighs a gloved hand rubbing at his padded shoulder. "I'm alright."

Harry races after Zayn, scratches trailing behind his blades.

Zayn dribbles the puck before dropping it back to Harry. "Falcon! Falcon!"

He hopes that Stan understands the play that he's shouting at the top of his lungs, but when Stan doesn't move in for the quick swoop pass, Zayn panics. He skates in and completes the play himself.

He quickly fires the puck down the centre and the Grimshaw brothers both manage to deflect it. Zayn swears as Sean gets a hold of it once more.

Niall gets back into the game coming up alongside Sean in case he needs to pass it.

Harry groans cursing at Stan. He's been screwing the game up and its pissing him off to no end.

Sean sees Niall at his side and quickly passes it off knowing that he can't get past Liam and Louis. Ed falls back to cover Sean and be there if he's needed.

Zayn is beyond furious and he can't help the slight reach of his stick around Niall's skate. The second he hears the whistle he knows Olly has him for hooking, but why go to the penalty box without following through?

He jerks his stick back, catching the bottom of the shin pad as he aims to take Niall down.

Niall slips, but this time it’s his chest slamming against the rink. The wind's knocked out of him despite the pads that were supposed to cushion his fall.

"Fuck. Shit," he manages to catch his breath getting onto his knees.

Harry looks at the other guys. "Zayn, he blew the whistle you can't just do that!"

Olly glides over and lightly grabs Zayn by the jersey sleeve. "Two minutes in the penalty box for hooking. I could slap you with unsportsmanlike conduct, but since it really wouldn't do anything, I won't."

Zayn groans and motions Harry over to the box to talk to him. Once the emerald eyed boy was standing there, he began talking. "Stan fucking sucks. He's our second line. How the hell does our second line suck this badly?"

Harry sighs. "I don't know. Anyways have you been at all paying attention to Niall? He's good." He glances over his shoulder to where Niall is. He was really good. Faster than any of them, his puck control is amazing, and his passing is flawless.

"Honestly, I've been trying not to. He's beating me in speed and that's impressive by itself." Zayn sighs and looks back out to the ice where Niall is conversing easily with Liam, Louis, and Josh.

"Okay. Switch him and Stan. I want to see how well be can adapt to our playbook." He takes his helmet off and cringes at the flattened hair. "Also, can we go out for drinks tonight? I really need some alcohol. Haven't gotten properly smashed since Andy left."

Harry grins nodding. "Yeah! Drinks sound good. Although Liam might limit me knowing him. He doesn't trust me."

Zayn chuckles. "Whipped," he says teasingly although Andy would do the same if he were still here. He frowns at the depressing thought. "Also going to need a good fuck. It's been a week and a half."

He glances at Olly who's staring at his watch and realises they need to get on with practice. "Right. So make that switch and get playing. I think I'm going to wrap this up early tonight."

Harry grins mischievously. "I think I know why you don't seem to like Niall. You wanna fuck him. Some sexual tension going on." Harry skates away before Zayn can say a word. "Stan and Niall switch lines."

Stan can't skate fast enough back to his line mates and they all get into position for the face off in line one territory.

Olly looks at both boys and drops the puck quickly and the scrimmage is back underway.

\------------

Harry's right hand is laced with Liam's while he's talking to Zayn. "So we're going to get wasted? Li Li's going to take care of me."

Niall's walking behind the group glancing up towards the name of the bar. 'Johnny's' nothing fancy just a pub. They enter the club, Niall making a beeline for the alcohol.

Zayn couldn't get Harry's words from earlier out of his head. They were absolutely not true. Andy and he were trying the long distance thing, but were allowed a cute fuck every now and then. But the new guy (Neal? Nathan? Nicaragua?) wasn't Zayn's type.

He liked burly men who could fuck him into submission and Niall was as twink as could be. If anything, Zayn just wanted to take him home and cuddle him and pet his hair. But still Harry's voice rang through his mind.

You wanna fuck him.

Louis had promised Eleanor he would stay in and work on his paper that was due three days ago so he was a no show and Zayn was a little disheartened by that. Now he either had to talk to Buffalo or watch Liam and Harry tongue wrestle all night.

Getting inside 'Johnny's', Zayn headed towards the bar and placed the usual order- four shots of whiskey and his beer. Feeling generous, he also picked up Harry and Liam's first round.

Once he had the alcohol, he headed towards their usual booth in the very back of the pub.

Niall's more or less just following the others around. This is unfamiliar territory so he'd rather stick close.

Harry slides into the booth tugging Liam down next to him. Niall awkwardly takes the open spot by Zayn slamming his shot back.

"Good music!" He nearly shouts tapping his foot underneath the table.

Zayn grabs his shot and downs it quickly, relishing the burn that follows. He reaches forward for his beer and sips quietly. "It's alright. A little too upbeat for me."

Liam smiles. At least Zayn is trying. Well, he's at least talking to Niall without yelling or cursing and that's a start. "So, Niall, you excited to be on first line?"

Niall grins nodding. "Hold that thought." He leaves the table coming back five minutes later. This time there's a mug full of lager. "Need to get properly sloshed." He sits back down immediately gulping down a good portion. It wouldn't be long before he was gone.

Liam laughs, having already downed his shot and started his only beer for the night. "Don’t get to plastered, Niall. We do have a game tomorrow night."

Zayn stares down at the table uncomfortably. He didn't really know what to do with Buffalo being there. He slips his phone out at texts Harry. 'Why did he come along? I wanted it to just be us, Liam, and Louis.'

Niall chuckles drinking another forth of the liquid burning his throat. "I'll make sure I can play." His words are starting to slur.

Harry feels his phone vibrate, frowning at the message. 'Why do you care? Get him drunk then you can fuck him.'

'Would you stop that? I'm not fucking him. I have no interest in him whatsoever.' Zayn huffs and locks his screen as he downs the rest of his beer. "I need another. Anyone need more while I'm up?"

Liam frowns. "Zayn, we have a game tomorrow. Go easy, yeah? There will be scouts there tomorrow and if you want them to even considering looking at you in the finals, you need to be perfect tomorrow.”

Niall doesn't answer Zayn, taking another large swig. The mug's almost empty and he's tipsy and well on his way to drunk. "Fuck, I'm feelin' great." He leans back undoing the first three buttons of his white polo, shirt tight around his torso.

Harry chuckles only sipping at his tequila.

"Right. I'm going to get more." Zayn stops as he realises Niall is in the way. He groans and decides to crawl out from under the table so as not to disturb the blond.

Slipping from the bench onto his knees is the easy part, but 'Johnny's' isn't well lit and it's substantially darker under the table. He hits his head a total of four times and accidentally grabs someone a few times, but he finally makes it out.

He does a small cheer for himself. "I'll be a few. I'm going to knock back a couple more shots before switching to just beer."

Niall squirms in his seat having finished his drink. He's drunk now, glazed eyes scanning the crowd.

Harry sits back eying Niall then to Liam. He grips Liam's chin pulling him down to attach their lips.

Liam is still pretty sober, but if Harry wants to make out and possibly give Liam a blow job in the back booth of their regular Friday night hang out then who is Liam to stop him? Besides, he loves the way he can lick at the unappealing taste of tequila and still taste Harry clear as day.

Harry lies down in the booth looping his arms around Liam's neck pulling him down on top of him.

Liam gasps as he’s pulled into the bench. He can hear the deep throaty voice of someone new above and talking, but Harry is pressed up against him and he can't find it in himself to care about much else as he rolls his hips down into Harry's.

A guy approaches the table and smiles widely at Niall. "Hi. My name's Brian. Can I buy you a drink or have a dance?"

Niall looks up smiling drunkenly. "Wouldn't mind a shot then a dance." He gets up steadying himself on his feet glancing to the counter.

Brian glances at the boy once he's standing and nearly drools. He's a bottle blond, short and lithe, and cute as hell. He thinks that the pale white would contrast beautifully with his own dark chocolate complexion.

"Yeah, anything you want as long as I get to spend time with you. A shot of Jameson's sound good?" He wraps an arm around Niall's narrow hips to steady him. "What's your name?"

Niall's too shit faced to think of what's going on. "Niall." He's not one to hook up with strangers. He doesn't know the potential diseases they have, but his judgment is clouded and Brian looks gorgeous.

"I need a shot of whatever." He confirms reaching the counter and calling for a bartender.

Brian chuckles. "Cute name." He looks up as the bartender approached. "Can I get two tequila shots? Salt and lime as well please." He turns back to Niall and keeps his hand attached to the boy's hip. "I'm here almost every night and I've never seen you before. You visiting friends or something?"

Niall shakes his head. "Nah, used to play for the Buffaloes- the hockey team not the football team. Got transferred a few days ago and I play for the Bears." His story is slurred and he trips over his words but he gets it out. He wonders where the guys are. He can't even remember where Liam and Harry were. Niall snatches the shot once he got it, downing the alcohol.

"Thanks!" Niall calls happily.

Brian licks the back of his own hand before putting a little salt there and reaching for the alcohol with one hand and the lime wedge with the other. He downs the liquid and licks at the disgusting flavour on his hand before biting into the fruit and sucking the lime dry.

"Fuck that was good." He places a ten dollar bill on the counter. "Let's dance, yeah? Maybe I'll do a body shot off of you later. If you're okay with it that is."

He pulls Niall to a secluded, shady area I'm the pub that a few people have gathered in to dance. He pulls Niall flush against him and holds him by the hips. "You look good against my body, babe."

Niall loops his arms around the taller man's neck, swaying his hips. "I know I do. Maybe I could look good with you in other ways." He giggles nodding. "Yeah, a body shot sounds fine."

Brian licks at his lips. "I'm sure you could. Tell me, Niall," he turns the boy around and splays his finger along his lower abdomen, pushing Niall's backside against his semi. "You wanna get out of here? We can head to my place. I've got a great bar stocked with just about any kind of alcohol you could want."

He grinds his hips against the swell of the blond's ass. "I could do as many body shots off of you as I wanted without having to pay."

Niall moans quietly. "I say, what are we still doing here? Let's go now." He's dancing as well as a drunk man could. He's just rolling his hips back against the older man's without a second thought.

Brian groans at the friction and leans down to bite at the milky white neck of his dance partner. He pulls away before grabbing the blond's wrist and dragging him towards the exit.

\------------

Zayn sees Niall get pulled out the bar, but he figures it's of his own free will and sighs. He orders a second beer before stumbling back over to Harry and Liam. He had done another two shots of whiskey and a shot of some type of vodka and he's pretty buzzing. Not even caring that Liam has Harry's cock in his hand, he sits down at the table.

"Can I tell you guys something?" His accent is thick and he barely gets the question out before he's sipping at his next beer.

Harry looks at Zayn bewildered. "Really? We're kinda in the middle of something." He grips Liam's wrist to get him to stop for the time being. He can't believe this is happening. He's in the middle of being almost given a blowjob when Zayn had stopped by.

Zayn merely sits down as if he doesn't notice the two's antics (which he probably doesn't). He stares at the table top trying to gather his thoughts.

Liam, having not heard Zayn, sits up confusedly. As he sees the dark haired male, it makes sense. He fixes himself and smiles sheepishly at Zayn.

"I miss Andy." That's all Zayn says at first.

Harry tucks himself back into his pants situating his hard on from being obvious. His head snaps up at Zayn's words. "Oh, Zayn." He gets up and slides in next to him. "Andy misses you too, but he's in a good school still playing hockey. He's closer to playing in the big leagues. The NHL is huge."

"It's not just that." Zayn sighs and drops his head on Harry's shoulder. "I miss him on the ice. I liked looking over my shoulder and knowing he was there." He huffs and blinks trying to get his vision to unblur. "And he had such a nice cock. I thought he was going to split me open every time he fucked me."

Liam scrunched his nose. He really didn't need to think about that. At least they knew who tops now.

Harry looks at his friend disgustedly. "No need for details! Mate, I'm sorry." He rubs Zayn's back right in between his shoulder blades. "Listen, crying over him won't help. You'll have to move on."

"But we said we'd try this long distance thing. It's just so hard. I don't have anyone and I feel horrible for getting hard when thinking about someone else." Zayn grabs at his beer and goes to take a sip.

"It's a natural reaction to see someone and want them sexually. It's just a human instinct. You shouldn't feel horrible about it unless you act on it." Liam tries to comfort the boy.

"Yeah, well it's hard when Harry tells me how much I want to fuck the new guy. The worst part is I can't tell if he's right or not." Zayn frowns and hoists his head up to look at Harry. "I think I wanna fuck the new guy."

Harry's eyes widen. When he said it, it was a joke but to know that he was actually right. "You want to fuck Niall?" He glances at Liam for some sort of help. What he needs help with he doesn't know. "Um, Zayn... So what are you going to do now that you know you want to get your rocks off with blondie?"

"Nothing. I'm still with Andy. I can't fuck his replacement. Besides, Niall is so tiny. I need someone to dominate me. He's too twink." Zayn whines and pouts.

Liam rolls his eyes and grabs the drink from his captain's hand. "I think we need to cut someone off and take him home. He's way too drunk to even know what he's saying."

Harry nods. "Let me just get Niall then. Where is he anyway?" He looks around the bar only to see nothing. Well there are a mass of bodies so he probably wouldn't be able to see Niall if he wanted to. "Zayn, you know where he went?"

"He left like fifteen minutes ago with some black guy. They looked pretty cozy to me." Zayn mumbles as he buried his face in the curly haired boy's neck.

Liam bites his lip. "Should we be worried? I mean I wasn't really watching him. What are we going to do if something happens to him?"

Harry shakes his shoulder. "From what Zayn just said I'm guessing Niall went willingly. He'll be fine."

\------------

Niall wakes up to the sun shining in his face. He groans sitting up, a blanket pooling around his waist.

"Wha?" He mumbles incoherently. He doesn't recognize the walls and from a quick once over, he's in his briefs.

"Shit, shit!" He's starting to remember going home with some guy from the bar. He stands head swimming from the quick movement. Where was Zayn, Harry, and Liam and why didn't they do something?

"Niall, go back to bed." Brian groans as he rolls over to cuddle with the boy. When his face meets mattress, he realises that Niall is completely gone. He sits up and rubs at his eyes. "Hey, what's wrong? You don't regret last night do you?"

Niall's freaking out now. There was a guy there. Holy shit. "Oh God. Oh God we didn't do anything did we?" He tugs at his hair finding his pants and pulling those on. He's going to kill the guys for letting him go with this stranger.

Brian frowns. "Just a lot of body shots before passing out. Nothing like... Overtly sexual." He looks down at the bed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have even suggested that we come back here. I usually don't do things like that."

Niall's fully dressed now looking at the ground. He can't even glance at the guy. "I need to leave I have a game." He hurries into the living room finding his shoes. He can't stay here. He can't remember anything so how does he know if this guy is telling the truth?

Brian sighs and gets up and slips a pair of shorts on and follows the boy. "Look, I know you have a hockey game- that's all you talked about last night- but I'd really like to show you that I'm not some skeezball." He swallows and lets his eyes drift to the small balcony attached to his apartment. "I mean, only if you really wouldn't mind."

Niall sighs, his left hand rubbing at his right arm. He seems like a descent enough guy. "Sure. I'd like to know who was taking body shots off of me." He sticks his hand out for his phone and once he gets it he types in his number handing it back. "I'm free Monday."

Brian smiles and takes the phone back and sends a quick text with his name to Niall's number. "Great. So, um, I'll text you tomorrow? Don't want to take your focus from tonight's game."

Niall nods smiling. "I'll see you later then." He exits the apartment heading towards his. He's going to go get his gear, go to the school, and kill those bastards.

\------------

Liam held Harry's hand tightly as they headed towards the locker room. He hasn't heard from Niall all morning and it's worrying him to no end. He's already prepared the story to the police for when he has to file a missing persons report.

Louis is walking in front of them, swinging his hips and singing some Queen song. "Liam, you need to quit worrying. He's probably getting some afternoon dick. He'll be just fine."

Zayn walks behind the rest of them keeping his head down and not wanting to talk about Buffalo. Liam had filled him in on everything he had said and done the previous night and he didn't even want to think about it.

"Just remember boys, we need this win. This will get us into the finals and, more importantly, this will get me laid." Louis turned to walk backwards and still talk to the boys.

Harry rolls his eyes. "All you can think about is Eleanor's vagina. We have a missing teammate."

Niall slams the door open storming past the group of guys. He throws his bag near a locker absolutely fuming. He ignores everyone in the changing room stripping down to his underwear. He refrains from killing anyone trying to remain focused on the game at hand.

Liam turns his head towards the fuming blond and wants to jump the boy. "Oh god! Niall, are you okay? What happened? He didn't hurt you did he?"

Louis rolls his eyes. "Do you really think he'd be suiting up for a game if a guy hurt him?"

Niall grits his teeth. "Oh, I'm just fine. Thank you for watching out for me by the way! Assholes." He pulls on his thigh pads knowing that the game was scheduled to start in twenty minutes.

Harry can tell Niall's really pissed off, he could practically see the steam rolling off of him.

Zayn scoffs. "You're a big girl. You can watch out for yourself. Now shut up and suit up- all of you. You have fifteen minutes." He finishes changing quickly and heads out to the bench to find their coach.

Louis furrows his brows. "What the hell is his problem?"

Niall finishes changing. Louis' the only one he likes now. "Fucker. I was drunk. I could have been fucking murdered in an alley." He stalks out of the changing room, the rest of the team following.

Liam frowns. "He's probably just hungover. He had a... Rough night. Had a few tequila inspired revelations."

Louis quirks a brow. "What kind of revelations? Has he finally realised that dick isn't as great as you boys make it out to be?"

Harry shakes his head. "He's realized that he wants to fuck Niall." He's not sure if it’s his place to say it, but they're only telling Louis. It’s not like they're announcing it to the team or Niall.

"Shit, really? What is he going to do about Andy? I mean, is he even going to make a move on Niall?" Louis questions. He loves to gossip about the boys and their love lives.

Liam shrugs. "Who knows? He's just as moody as ever."

"Okay, ladies, enough talk we have a game to win!" With that Harry exits the room knowing that this discussion would continue later.

\------------

Zayn is in distress. He loves Andy, he really does, but there's something about Niall that just draws Zayn to him. He's confused, but he doesn't want to get distracted before the game. He had to focus. He had a game to get through and a Skype date with Andy tonight. He could make it.

The crowd is loud and cheering and Zayn is ecstatic. The buzz running through him is electric and he's on the centre line for face off. He looks over his right shoulder and sees Harry and Liam in position and he checks over his left to see Niall and Louis ready. He could hear Josh slapping the goal posts with his stick.

They were ready and just needed the puck to drop.

The referee releases the puck. The rubber disc somersaults through the air making contact with the ice.

Niall speeds down the rink watching Nebraska take it before Zayn had a chance to blink. There are at least two scouts watching the game. They're looking for talent, but they won't pick anyone up until the finals. Niall decides he wants them to remember his name.

He bypasses Zayn maneuvering the puck away from the opposing team's centre.

Zayn is ready to grab the puck when Buffalo bolts up out of nowhere and grabs the puck right from the other player. He checks over his shoulder to see Harry rushing up to help the blond. He's not sure what's going on, but he's sprinting down the ice to check the other team's right defence man into the boards.

"Buffalo! Formation Bear Swipe!" He shouting at the blond and hoping he knows what that means.

Niall doesn't even know what that means. He raises his eyebrows although it's not visible from under the mask he's wearing. He maneuvers around the other players turning his body and using his blades to stop. He pulls the stick back slapping it straight into the net.

"Yes!" He pumps one fist into the air.

Liam and Louis head down the ice and throw their arms around Niall and are congratulating him. Josh is back at their goal slapping his stick against the posts and riling up the crowd.

Zayn skates over and shoves at the blond's chest. "The fuck are you doing? I gave you a play to run and you didn't do it! Never should have traded Andy for you."

Niall stumbles back almost tripping over his skates. He stares at Zayn wide eyed. "The play wasn't going to work! Look, I just scored shouldn't you be happy?" He shakes his head. Never has someone gotten pissed for him making a goal.

"Whatever. Just run the damn play when I fucking call it. There's a reason that I have a fucking 'C' on my uniform." Zayn glides back to centre ice and waits for the referee to get everything back in order.

Liam is frowning. "I have a feeling this game isn't going to go very well." He turns to give Niall a sympathetic look. "Watch your back. He's on a war path."

Louis grabs Liam's hand and pulls him back down the ice to get in position for the next play.

Niall brushes Zayn off. "Don't worry about me. He may be captain, but I know what I'm doing." He skates back to Zayn's left pumping his fist to help Josh excite the crowd. He knows what he's doing and if he has to disobey the captain to win then he would.

\------------

Zayn storms into the locker room and throws his helmet against the metal lockers. He could hear the rest of the team shuffling into the room. He turns and snarls at the rest of his teammates.

"We're a fucking team. Not a one man show. You have to fucking listen or we're going to lose." He's only mad at one specific player, but he just wants to yell at everyone and make sure everyone knows who he's angry with.

Niall's the last one in. He takes off his helmet, hair sweaty. He stands in the circle of players crowding around him. "But if there's a player who knows what's good for the team then it shouldn't matter."

Coach Blackwood enters the locker room slapping Niall on the back. "Way to go!"

"If one player thinks he's better than a whole team then he doesn't belong. The reason I call the plays I do is because everyone needs to work together. I really don't think you understand how this game hierarchy works." Zayn slams his hand against his locker and glares at the new boy. "You don't belong on a team. You belong back in the fucking mountains. No one wants you here."

Niall raises his eyebrows. "Really? Because I scored two of the three we have and we're winning." He looks to the team. "Is it true? Do none of you want me here?"

The coach splutters. "Zayn, we might make it to the semi-finals."

"I don't care about semi-finals! We'll never make it to the finals if we can't get this fucking twink to do what the hell he's told!"

Liam grabbed at Zayn's elbow. "Zayn, don't-"

Zayn snatches his arm away. "Andy was twice as good a player as you a ten times better person! The college was fucking dumb for trading you! You're a fucking fag!"

Niall's smirk drops. Zayn always called him a twink, but now he had to use the F word.

Zayn's hated him from the beginning but he always attacks his sexual preference. Is that why Zayn despises him? He's gay? But so are Harry and Liam. Is there such a thing as selective homophobia?

The locker room is silent and Zayn can practically hear the hatred and outrage going through everyone's mind. He needs to apologise and beg forgiveness, but he's never once backed down from a confrontation with a teammate and he's not about to start now.

"Buffalo, I-"

"I think it would be best if you just stopped talking, Zayn." Liam, of all people, is whispering threateningly into his ear.

Zayn looks at the blond- at Niall- and he knows he deserves every last bit of hate that he'll receive from this.

Niall tosses his helmet to the side leaving the locker room. He's not going to stay there and listen to insults.

The coach glowers at Zayn. "Why don't you sit out for third period? Someone get Horan back."

Louis nods and heads out the door after Niall.

Zayn stands there and looks defeated. He knows it was wrong. Everyone is going to take Niall's side and he honestly doesn't blame them. He just moves to the back towards his locker, wanting to get changed and head back to his dorm and call Andy.

\------------

Niall storms through the back door tugging at his hair. Why did Zayn hate him so much? He's gay, that has to be it. He closes his eyes groaning. Why was this all so hard?

Louis spots the blond hair disappearing through the back of the rink and picks up his speed. "Niall! Niall! Wait up! Come back!”

He bursts through the door and manages to snag Niall's oversized jersey and spin the boy around. "Hey, come on. Zayn didn't mean it. I'm not saying he should have said it, but he definitely didn't mean it."

Niall scoffs. "Oh, he meant it. He calls me a twink every fucking day." He pries Louis' fingers off his jersey. "Anyways I wasn't going anywhere I just needed to breathe."

Louis sighs. "This really isn't my secret to share, but Zayn's gay too. He and Andy... Well, they had a 'special' relationship. They were kind of dating."

He runs a hand through his fringe and thinks about what to tell Niall. "Zayn went completely mental the day he found out about Andy. Hell, Andy didn't even know. The coach just came in and told the whole team. It was horrible. The two of them just looked like they'd been shot."

Louis bites at his lip and tries to think about how Zayn must have felt. "He had thirty hours until his flight and he had to pack and say goodbye. Zayn was absolutely crushed."

Niall throws his arms up. "That still doesn't give him the right to call me what he did! I didn't take his fuck buddy away! It's not my fucking fault!"

He groans loudly. "God, do you think I want to be here? I kinda had this good thing going. I was captain and, fuck, maybe I had someone special!"

"I'm not saying it gives him the right. I'm just saying that's why he doesn't like you." Louis shrugs and looks slyly over at the blond. "He's apparently a little confused as well. Told Liam and Harry last night that he wants to fuck you, but he's too proud to do anything about it I know him. He'll just push you around to try and make that urge go away."

He cheers up a little at the prospect of learning about the blond. "You had someone back in Colorado? Was he nice? Was he cute? Did he play hockey too?"

Niall's eyes widen. Zayn wants to what? Had he heard that correctly? There's no way. He refuses to believe that. "I actually didn't have anyone, but I was just making a point. Look we should head back in and finish the game."

"Yeah. I don't know who is going to play centre for first line though. Coach is making Zayn sit through the third. He didn't particularly like the comment Zayn made." He grabs Niall's wrist and tugs him gently back through the twists and turns of the rink building till they were in the nearly empty locker room.

Only Zayn was still there in the middle of changing back into his normal attire.

"Hey..." Zayn scratched at the back of his neck uncomfortably. He felt kind of exposed, but his pants were up and he guessed that's what matters.

"The fag is leaving." Niall announces bitterly going back out to where the actual rink was.

\------------

Zayn sat on his bed, computer in his lap. He had stayed in the stands till the end of the game and watched his team win. As soon as the final buzzer sounded though, he was gone. Now he sat there on his bed with Skype pulled up and Andy's info on his screen. Sighing, he pressed the call button and waited patiently.

Andy answers the call waving to the boy on screen. "Hey, babe." He sits back in his computer chair smiling. It’s been awhile since either of them were able to chat. "How are you?"

Zayn smiles softly. "I've been better. I basically just turned the entire team against me tonight." He pulls Andy's hoodie tighter around him breathing in the last bit of the other boy's cologne. "I hate your replacement. He's cocky and arrogant and I just can't stand him."

Andy frowns. "I'm sorry. How'd you turn the team against you? C'mon Tomlinson, Payne, and Styles would never turn their backs on you." He's trying to comfort him, but it's hard when you're not in the same place.

"I called the new guy a fag. Andy, you would have thought I shot a puppy. He just ran from the locker room and Liam, Liam, looked ready to swing at me."

He buried his face in his hands. "We won though. We're going to the semi-finals. Here's hoping the coach lets me play. He made me sit out last period tonight because of my comment to Buffalo."

Andy sits forward. "You know how you would feel if someone called you that. You need to apologize." He sighs quietly. "I know it’s not the same now that we're apart, but you have to understand that only distance is separating us. Only something physical not something emotional. I'm here okay? I love you."

He makes a heart shape with his hands.

Zayn laughs lightly. "I know. I love you too. It's just weird not being with you every day. I miss my wing man."

He blows a kiss to the screen but freezes when he sees moment behind Andy. He looks harder and it's some girl standing there in Andy's (actually, those are Zayn's) boxers and one of Andy's homemade 'My Box' shirts.

The girl moves forward and drapes herself across Andy's shoulders and kisses at his neck. "Who's this, babe? One of your hockey friends from Cornell or something?"

Andy's eyes widen. He looks to the screen then to her. "Yeah Zayn. The one I told you about." He doesn't know where to go with the conversation. It's awkward and tense although she's oblivious. "Zayn, this is Rachel."

Zayn stares at the screen for a second or two before swallowing back the angry words and blinking back the tears. "Hey, Rachel. How did you meet Andy?"

Rachel giggled before moving to sit in Andy's lap. "The hockey team threw him a welcome party and invited like the entire school. I ran into him there and one thing lead to another. You know how that goes." She giggles.

Zayn looks up at Andy, hurt and betrayal written clearly on his face.

Andy sighs. "Yeah, I tried to fight her off. I didn't want to get involved with anyone here but I missed holding someone. Long distance is hard." He hopes Zayn is getting his hidden message. He never told Rachel he was technically in a relationship.

"Well I hope you're happy with her. Just didn't think you'd burn all your bridges that led you back to the east coast." Zayn's trying not to cry, but one fucking tear makes it through. He wipes it away absentmindedly. "I, uh, I got to go. Liam is calling me." He picks up his cell and tries to make it look plausible. "Bye, Andy. It was nice to meet you Rachel."

Rachel smiles brightly and waves. "Bye, Zayn! Hope you win your semi-finals game. If you do, we're coming to Cornell to play you guys in the Championship game!"

Andy sighs. "Bye, Zayn. Uh, talk later?" He hides his face behind Rachel's back. He can't look at what he left behind or see the tears falling.

"Maybe. I'm busy with school and practice so... I'll text you." And with that he hangs up and the tears fall freely. He needs Liam or Harry or Louis, but none of them will even talk to him after tonight.

When did everything become so hard?

\------------

It's seven thirty in the morning and Zayn is in shorts and a nice sports' thermal and his skates. He didn't sleep very well last night and knowing that he had to get over Andy, he did the only logical thing he could think of: practice hockey.

He's alone on the ice and he's just doing some speed drills. But soon, even that is too menial to occupy his thoughts. He grabs his stick and the box of pucks and lines them up on the centre line and starts shooting them to try and get his aim perfect.

"Tilt the stick a little to the left mate," Harry calls walking down the bleacher steps.

Zayn listens and shift his stick and watches as the puck sails right through the poles and into the back of the net. "Thanks."

Harry leans against the plexiglass watching Zayn for a moment or two. "Something bothering you? You never come to the rink alone unless you're upset."

The darker male glides over and motions Harry down the way till there's no plexiglass and climbs over to sit on one of the benches. "I just don't get what I did to deserve this. The entire team is angry at me, although, I deserve that. Oh, and here's the best part. Andy has been dicking around with some girl behind my back."

Harry's eyes widen. "Zayn, that can't be true. Andy loves you." He ruffles his curls to give his hands something to do. He's not the best at comforting, that's Liam's job.

"Why don't you tell that to Rachel? The girl who was wearing his boxers and shirt and kissing at him and sitting in his lap. He didn't seem very in love with me then." Zayn looks down at the ice and feels his hands twitch for his stick.

"What are you doing up so early on a Sunday morning? Shouldn't you be sleeping next to Liam or something?"

Harry shrugs. "I couldn't sleep. I have a lot on my mind." He looks back out towards the rink the faintest of smiles distorting his lips.

Zayn scrunches his nose up in confusion. "What's got you all smiley? Normally that's reserved only for Liam." He genuinely wants to know what is making his friend so happy that he can't sleep.

Harry sighs. "Liam told me he loved me." Their relationship is still premature and the, ‘I love you' hadn't been exchanged up until the night before.

Zayn is smiling now. No matter how shitty his relationships are, at least his friends are going strong. "Congratulations, mate! That sounds great. You said it back, right?"

Harry looks at his best friend incredulously. "Of course I said it back!" He can't believe he was just asked that. He loves Liam with everything he's got.

"Just making sure. Some guys are stupid and don't say it back because they're nervous." Zayn shrugs. He wonders if Andy and he are still together and if he should tell Andy he loves him. He asks Harry and hopes for the best.

Harry frowns, eyes glued to the floor. "I don't think you two are, mate." He doesn't like this talk they're having, but Zayn needs someone and he had been the one to come by.

"What do I do? I just want to hop on a plane and fly to Colorado to hold him and tell him that I forgive him. I just want him to need me like I need him." He drops his face in his hands and just groans. College wasn't supposed to be hard and messy. It was supposed to be beer, boys, and hockey. This feelings shit is so high school.

Harry rubs his back soothingly. "Zayn, it's not happening I'm sorry." He slings his arm around Zayn's shoulders pulling him close.

"I know... Would you call me a girl if I told you I really just want ice cream, chocolate, and lots of shirtless Channing Tatum movies?" Zayn burrows his face into Harry's chest and takes a few deep breaths to try and calm himself down.

Harry cards his fingers through Zayn's jet black hair. "Why don't we go to my room and do that?" He gets to his feet tugging Zayn out of the rink before he can stop him.

\------------

Niall opens his apartment door, letting Louis slip past him. "Welcome to my home. It's not much but it's... Yeah." His flat was only down the street from the college and Louis decided he wanted to hang out with him.

"Better than the cramped dorms the rest of us are in. They were originally going to bunk you with Zayn in Andy's old spot, but Zayn raged." Louis flops down on a chair and slips his phone out. "Speaking of Zayn, how are you doing after last night? I know he's upset about everything. I means he's invaded Harry's dorm and apparently crying and stuffing his face with ice cream."

Niall lies back on his couch. "I'll survive. It’s not the first time I've been called one." He tosses his phone next to him flicking the television on with his remote. "Anyway feel free to sit down, my house is your house, blah blah blah."

"Yeah, but that's not the way to talk to a teammate and he knows that." Louis says before focussing on the television.

A vibrating sound emits from Niall's pocket. It's Brian. 'Hey. So it's the black guy from yesterday morning if you don't remember. How was your game last night? (:'

"I guess I'll get over it." Niall shrugs his shoulders sitting up. 'Oh hey. My game went great. We won 6-3. I scored four of those points.'

'That's great! Bet you're a beast on the ice. Gotta say, I didn't think you were actually on the team. You're so tiny.'

Louis looks over. "Who are you texting over there, Mister Horan?"

Niall pouts. 'Height has nothing to do with the sport. It's all skill.' He glances up at Louis unable to help the goofy grin. "Texting Brian. Met him at the bar."

"Is this the same guy you disappeared with? What happened with him that night? You never really said." Louis sits up a little, ready for gossip.

'Well, I'm not going to lie. I had to google and read about the sport. I'm more of a football kind of guy.'

Niall bites his lip. "Yeah it’s the same guy. We apparently just took body shots off each other and that's it." He rolls his eyes at the text. 'Most people are. Hockey's more dangerous though. Ever heard of Clint Malarchuk?'

Louis grimaces. "Well, that's... Nice. I usually don't keep in touch with guys who lick alcohol off of me, but to each his own." He shrugs and wonders if this is a safe decision on Niall's part.

'Yeah. He was a Capitals goalie in the early nineties. What about him?'

Niall raises his eyebrows. "I thought you liked birds, not guys." He's actually surprised Brian knows who he's talking about. 'During a game Steve Tuttle collided with him and his blade slit Clint's throat severing his cartoid artery.'

"Just because I love me some girls doesn't mean I can't appreciate when a guy tells me I'm fit. I mean, have you seen my ass?" Louis jokes and laughs.

'I'm guessing that was before he played for the Caps. I don't ever remember seeing that. Then again, I only really watched like three hockey games. Hockey was my dad's favourite sport.'

Niall can't help the small shrug of agreement. "Your ass is really round. Not trying to come onto you or anything." He chuckles at the message. 'Well your dad has great taste.'

Louis chuckles. "You're good. When Liam and I first met, he tried to pick me up. Had to tell him I had a girlfriend and then it was all awkward."

'Well if he had told me that hockey players were as good looking as you are, I might have watched more. Every time I see a game, they have a Russian accent and are missing teeth.'

Niall laughs trying to imagine a pink cheeked Liam and a bashful Louis. "Who do you think is the best looking guy on the team? Who would you most likely date?" It sounds like something a high school girl would ask but he's interested in knowing.

'Yeah well I'm college not pro. Besides I can think of hundreds of hot hockey players.'

Louis thinks for a moment. "Personality wise, Liam. Looks wise, Harry or Nick. It's their cheeky little smiles. They get me every time." He smirks. "What about you? Who would you date on the team?"

'Name five. And Tim Thomas and Brayden Holtby don't count.'

Niall nods. He thinks about the answer. "Zayn if he wasn't such a prick." He has to think of the answer for Brian as well. 'Gabe Landeskog and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Hot enough to count as ten guys.'

Louis laughs heartily at that. "He can be a bit douchey at times, but damn that boy can play hockey."

'Just googled them... We'll work on your taste in men. So speaking of your taste in men, what are you doing tomorrow night?'

"At times? He makes fun of my sexuality and last practice he fucking hooked me." Niall huffs still pissed about being tripped on the ice. 'They're fucking beautiful are you kidding me? Whatever, um, tomorrow I'm sitting at home stuffing my face. Really busy.'

"He's just real competitive. He tends to get really rough and rude when someone is in his way." Louis hates defending Zayn's behaviour, but the darker boy had a one track mind and that was hockey.

'I wasn't going to ask if you wanted to go for dinner if you were free, but since you're really busy...'

Niall rolls his eyes. "Whatever that's no way to get in my pants. If he wants to fuck me he needs to get over this 'I'm better than everyone else' attitude." He smiles at his phone screen. 'Dinner you say? Suddenly I'm free.'

"As much as he wants to fuck you, he'll never even ask. He's probably so focused on hockey and Andy that you'll never have to worry about it." Louis shrugs and looks over at the blond.

'So the way to your heart is through your stomach? I can work with that. What kind of food do you like?'

"Whatever I've got a guy offering me free food I don't need anyone else." Niall shrugs smiling to himself. 'The way into my pants is through my stomach. I'll eat anything.'

Louis chuckles and looks skeptically over at Niall. "Just be careful, Ni. You hardly know this guy."

'Really now? Then I'll be sure to clean the apartment so you can be impressed as you walk through it to my bed. ;)'

Niall's eyebrows knit together. "I went to his house extremely drunk and he didn't take advantage of me. Although I can't say something won't happen tomorrow." He sighs. Brian's not a bad guy. 'Feed me first then we can take a walk to your bed.'

Louis scrunches his nose in repulsion. "Dude! I didn't need to know that! Just use protection and don't get pregnant."

'Deal. You know the Italian restaurant at the corner of Tenth Street and Georgia Avenue? Meet there at six tomorrow.’

Niall laughs eying Louis. "Do you not like me talking about having sex with a hot guy? Do you not like the images?"

'Mm Italian. I'll see ya there. Make sure you have clean sheets.'

Louis shuts his eyes tightly. "Absolutely not. I mean, I'm not stupid. I know how it's done." He huffs and rubs at his eyes with the heels of his hands. "I still adhere to the thinking that Liam and Harry haven't had sex because I have been running from it for four months now."

'Sounds like a plan. I have a board meeting so I have to go. See you tomorrow.'

Niall tucks his phone back into his pocket sitting all the way up. "It’s not a complicated process." He smirks at what Louis' saying. "All the bedroom comments they make says otherwise."

"I will leave, Horan. I will get up and walk out that door. Don't do this to me." Louis threatens. He was okay with his friends and all being a part of that, but he didn't want to think about it. He barely liked thinking about himself naked, why would his friends be any different.

Niall holds his hands up although the smirk doesn't drop. "Okay. Okay I'm done." He doesn't understand what's so uncomfortable about it but he's not going to question him.

The room is silent for a long while.

"Anal sex."

\------------

Niall enters the locker room pissed off. Practice had been terrible all thanks to one person, Zayn.

He was yelling at everything Niall was doing the entire time. 'Buffalo you're not aiming correctly.' 'Who the hell taught you to hold the stick like that?' 'How did your fucking twink ass even pass grade school?!'

Niall's so done with the day. He glances up at Liam and Harry. "I have a date. I can't wait to eat and possibly have sex. I really need to be fucked properly."

Liam is taken aback at how abrupt Niall states it. "Oh, well good for you, Ni. Who's the guy? Do we know him?"

Louis enters a little behind the boys and frowns as he looks around. Zayn is nowhere to be found. "Anyone seen talk, dark, and brooding? Apparently he's ignoring Andy's texts and Skype chats."

Niall scoffs. "Why don't you try the intersections of pretentious prick and I don't give a fuck." He has every right to be mad. "It’s the guy from the bar by the way."

Harry looks wide eyed at Niall. "I'm going to go get changed." He scurries off not liking confrontation.

Louis sighs. He had really hoped that Zayn would be nicer on the ice after what was said on Saturday, but it was still the same. "Did he be at least beg for forgiveness for what he said?"

"What? That's not important, Louis." Liam is staring at Niall like he's been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Zayn isn't the issue right now. The guy from the bar is all I'm focused on. Niall, are you sure about this?"

Niall groans loudly glaring at Liam. "Why the fuck is everyone so insistent on Brian being a bad guy? I'm a big fucking boy I can manage." He finishes getting dressed slamming his locker shut. "I'm sick of everyone here! God everything I do is wrong? Well, fuck you too!"

He's more frustrated about practice than anything else.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Just calm down. I'm not saying Brian is a bad guy. I just want to make sure you're safe." Liam held his hands up innocently trying to show that he meant no harm.

Louis merely rolls his eyes. "Go get him, Niall. If he can resist fucking you when you both are drunk and then wanting a chance to go out, he can't be that bad." He smiles brightly trying to diffuse the situation. "Have fun. Just make sure you can walk tomorrow. You know what they say. Once you go black, you never go back."

Liam is staring at Louis like he's crazy, but as long as Niall gets some kind of encouragement today than Louis doesn't care.

"Sorry for snapping. I'm letting Captain Asshole get to me." He sighs now fully dressed in his street clothes. "Well I'll see you guys later." He shrugs the duffel bag on stalking out of the locker room.

Zayn passes the blond on his way into the locker room, but refuses to even look or talk to the new guy. He gives the boy a wide berth and just heads into the smelly, nasty room. "Great job out there, boys. If we play like that on Wednesday we definitely have a shot at that Championship game." He smiles brightly and looks around to ensure that he's at least heard by everyone.

Harry can't help but scoff. "If we play like that, you'll be ejected from the game." He's not one to speak up. Usually he lets others handle this kind of stuff, but he's kind of getting sick of Zayn and his moodiness.

Zayn frowns at the curly haired boy. "What are you talking about? They never eject players anymore. It's all about that equal play bullshit in collegiate level." He rolls his eyes. "Besides, with a well-placed hit, a guy could be out the rest of the game and it would be completely legal."

Harry looks at Zayn. "Mate, I know you're not that stupid. You'll be penalized for unsportsman like conduct." He pulls on his pants buckling his belt. "Niall's a part of this team. Andy's not here anymore. He's fucking a girl just build a bridge and get over it."

Zayn feels the smile completely disappear from his face as Harry mentions Andy and his infidelity. He doesn't like the hush that's fallen over the locker room or the eyes staring at him. "I'm... I'm going back on the ice. Everyone needs to be cleared out by the time I'm done." He turns and heads back out the locker room, slamming the door behind him.

Harry doesn't apologize for his words. Instead he finishes getting dressed while talking to the silent team. "It had to be said. Zayn's only being a dick because of his relationship ending. At least now he can fuck Niall like he's been wanting to."

Louis bites at his lip. "How long ago did his relationship end? There's a week long mourning before yelling at a brother."

"And he has to compete with Brian the bar boy. Let's just face it, Niall and Zayn are never going to be friends. Just give up, Harry." Liam says quietly as he runs his fingers through the curls.

"It ended Saturday night. That's when Zayn found out about Rachel." Harry replies leaning into Liam's touch. "I will not give up. They will be friends." He huffs turning his nose up. "Besides depending on how Niall's date goes Zayn might have a shot."

\------------

Brian shifted nervously in his seat. It was six ten and he was starting to worry if Niall was standing him up. He knows he didn't pick the fanciest place for a date, but Niall didn't seem like the shirt and tie kind of guy.

Brian himself was dressed down in a deep purple polo and his dark wash jeans. He even traded out his shiny dress shoes for a more casual, yet classy older style black shoe.

He fidgeted in his chair and smiled sheepishly as the waiter asked him again if he wanted a drink while he waited. He declined and apologized again for the inconvenience.

Niall hurries inside immediately spotting Brian. "I'm so sorry." He sits down across from the older man carding his fingers through his sweaty hair. "I had a lot of problems with practice."

Brian exhales slowly letting all his worries slip away. "It's fine. Thought you were standing me up, but now that I know it was a hockey thing I feel really stupid about thinking you would have done that." He chuckles and hands Niall a menu and begins looking at the options. "I've never been here so I have no clue what's good or not."

The waiter came back and smiled and asked them for their drink order. "Do you want some wine or anything? I usually drink wine with my pasta, but I wasn't sure about you."

Niall wrinkles his nose. "Wine is disgusting. I'll take a coke."

He smiles sympathetically at the other. "You're right, you are stupid. I'd never stand someone up. I'm not an asshole."

Brian smiles lightly. "Didn't think you would, especially when you seemed so serious about food." He laughed slightly and looked back down at the menu. He wanted to ask Niall so many questions, but he didn't want to interrupt his decision about his dinner either. "So what sounds good to you?"

Niall's eyes scan over the food. "A burger and fries sounds fantastic. Oh, and a slice of pizza, chocolate cake maybe." He closes his menu handing it to the waiter. He gives his thanks glancing back at his date. "Hockey works up an appetite."

Brian laughs loudly. "You weren't kidding when you said you like food." He orders a Caesar salad and fettuccine Alfredo with a side of calamari before thanking the worker and turning to face Niall.

"So tell me about yourself. All I really know is that you wear Calvin Klein underwear and you love hockey. Is that everything or is there more?" He asks hesitantly. He hadn't been on a date in a while and wasn't sure if these were first date questions.

Niall chuckles offering a smile. "I just moved from Colorado two weeks ago. Cornell decided they wanted to trade players." He takes a drink of the complimentary water. "I was born in Ireland actually, but my mum moved us to the States after the divorce."

"Ireland? I thought I heard a small accent. Does your mom still have a thick accent or has it dissipated?" He thanks the waiter as their drinks are brought and he sips at the wine carefully. "What made her want to move west to USA? It's probably ten times more exciting there then here."

"Oh her accent is pretty damn heavy." He snorts. His mum's accent stayed the same. "No, Ireland isn't exciting. All you can do is drink or play sports. My mum's always wanted to come to America and she's heard great things about Colorado."

Brian wrinkles his nose. "Ireland sounds like America: sports and alcohol. I thought European countries were better than us." He shrugs and takes another small sip of the fermented grape juice. "Do you miss Colorado? I mean, do you regret coming all the way to the east coast? We aren't all that over here unless you hit Manhattan up in New York."

Niall sighs nodding his head. "I miss my teammates and I was the Captain back at CU." There's a hint of nostalgia in his voice. He just wants to move back more than anything. "Now I come here to meet Captain Twat and apparently he wants to screw me so his only solution is to call me a twink and a fag."

Brian frowns and clenches his fist under the table. "He called you that? If I ever meet this guy, I'm gonna make him fucking swallow his damn teeth. That's not okay, Niall." He huffs and tries to move on to something nice to try and clear his mind. "What are you majoring in? Something sports related or something that no one would expect?"

Niall sighs. He hadn't meant to upset Brian. "No, I'm majoring in Sports Medicine." He continues to sip at his drink. "And don't worry about the guy. I'll get over it."

Brian nods and blushes slightly. "Sorry. That word just really hurts. I'm sure you know that, but growing up in my neighbourhood and being gay? Hell, I'm lucky I made it to graduation." He clears his throat and now feels completely awkward for his little outburst and quickly finishes his glass of wine.

Niall reaches across the table settling his hand on top of Brian's. "Your concern is appreciated." He finishes off his soda sitting back. "And if you continue being sweet, this date can finish in your bed."

Brian looks down at the table in embarrassment and excitement. He's about to say something when he's interrupted by their food being placed in front of them and their waiter bringing them more drinks.

"Thank you," he manages to get out to the workers. He looks back over to Niall and smiles lightly. "Hope you like it. Like I said, I've never been here before."

"Looks great." He picks up the greasy burger taking a large bite out of it. "Tastes great." He removes the bun dumping his fries on top of the meat, placing the bun back on top.

Brian chuckles and begins eating his salad and nibbling at the calamari between every few bites. It was really good (honestly though, how could one ruin a salad?) and Brian quickly found himself having eaten the whole dish and all of his calamari.

Setting the empty plates aside, he grabbed at the fettuccine Alfredo and began eating that as well. "So, how old were you when you came to America? You said you moved here after your parents divorced?"

"Eight." Niall answers. He's finished his burger and fries moving onto the large slice of pizza soaked in grease. "My dad got my older brother and my mum got me." He shrugs. It’s become a normal thing to talk about.

"So you haven't seen your dad since you were eight? Doesn't that bother you? That's at least thirteen years if you're twenty one." He is shocked. He's grown up around people who never met their father, but for someone to stay away for that long? It's foreign to him.

"What about your brother? Have you seen him since then?" Brian felt like the questions were becoming a little deep, but Niall hadn't told him to stop asking questions.

Niall shrugs his shoulders. "They don't want to see me there's no point in seeing them." He moves on to his dessert stuffing a forkful into his mouth. "I've grown up without them I'm not bothered by it."

Brian goes quiet for a moment as he tries to think of a less invasive question as he finishes up his pasta and wine. "Alright. Here's one- you'd think I would have asked this already. Who is your favourite hockey team?" He took the last bite of his pasta and set his plate to the side again and held his wine in his hand. He didn't think Niall would take long with answer.

"Avalanche. I grew up in Colorado come on." He chuckles stacking his plates having finished. "So are we heading to your place?" He raises an eyebrow waiting for the check.

Brian hands the waiter his credit card without even looking at the bill. He doesn't want to risk Niall trying to pay for anything. He asked Niall, so he paid. Plus, he was already finished college and had a full time job. "If you want. I'm not going to be upset if you want to go back to your dorm, but I did clean my apartment and change my sheets for you." He smiles shyly hoping he hadn't been to presumptuous.

Niall grins. "You actually put clean sheets on? Let's go." He laces their fingers tugging him outside.

\------------

Niall's halfway dressed in his uniform smiling. They were playing the semi-finals and if they won, the finals. He's been so elated since his date two days before. They ended up not sleeping together, but they did other things. He slams his locker shut waiting for the rest of the team.

Louis, Liam, Josh, and Harry all saunter into the locker room. "I'm telling you, guys. I have no clue what to tell her. She wants a boob job! She's only twenty two! Is that like a natural thing or should I be worried?

Liam chuckles. "Louis, you're barking up the wrong tree. Harry and I like dick and Josh... Well, Josh just doesn't like anyone."

Louis huffs and heads to his locker next to Niall's. "Fine. Niall will help me. Won't you, Ni?"

Niall raises his eyebrows. "Do I look like I enjoy tits?" He sits on the bench shaking his head. "On the bright side they'll be solid." He snickers teasingly.

"None of you are helping!" Louis whines and stamps his foot against the concrete floor. "I'm trying to tell her not to get it done. She's perfect at the size she is now, but she won't listen to me."

Liam kisses at Harry's forehead before starting to change. "Just show her lots and lots of affection and tell her how pretty she is without enhancements."

"Or you can try a different approach." Niall slaps the back of his left hand into the palm of his right.

Harry laughs shaking his head. "I don't think violence will solve anything. Women are complicated which is why I'm glad Liam has a cock."

Zayn enters at that moment and he turns his back to all of them. He hasn't spoken to any of them since that day in the locker room unless it was yelling at them on the ice. He quickly starts to change so he can get out to the rink early. He really can't be in there with them for very long.

Louis rolls his eyes at the brute. "Well, since you're no help to me... How did your date go, Niall? Get any dick? I'm assuming no since you could still walk yesterday."

Niall chuckles cheeks pink. "Yeah, no sex. I figured that we have a game don't need to be in pain. But he was so sweet. Wanted to know everything and paid for my meal." He sighs dreamily, standing back up.

Liam beams. "He seems like a right proper guy. So is there a date two planned or is he going to fall by the wayside? I prefer the first option, by the way."

"So wait. If you didn't get the d, what the hell did you do? Just talk? That's not a lot of fun." Louis scrunched his nose in disgust at the thought of merely talking on a date.

"Believe it or not, not everything is about sex." Niall laughs the smile still there. "There's definitely a second date. Actually the day after finals. Even if we don't make it I want to focus on this then him."

Liam smiles. "Good. What about telling him to come to the finals if we make it? We can all go out for dinner afterwards. It'll be great."

Zayn scoffs. "Don't listen to a word Buffalo says. Sex is everything. If you're not around, he'll get it somewhere else. That's what happens nowadays."

Niall scoffs sending a glare in Zayn's direction. "You want to fuck me, but look how that's working out for you." He stalks out of the locker room heading to the rink where the game would be held.

Zayn freezes before turning to look at his so called friends. "Who told him that? It sure as hell wasn't me and only you two knew." He glares at Liam and Harry.

Liam shrugs. "I told Louis, but no one, not even Niall, was around."

Harry holds his hands up. "I didn't tell anyone. I swear." He looks to Louis considering he was the only other person who could have told Niall.

Louis scuffs his toe along the floor. "So I might have told him. I was trying to explain that you really weren't that bad if a guy and you were just confused because of Andy and your attraction to Niall."

Liam can feel the atmosphere change and he's quickly tugging Harry down the row of lockers and out of the range of fire.

"You're an absolute twat! Why the fuck would you think it's okay to tell someone something that personal? I don't even know what I want and now I have to worry about this fucker talking shit about me? Fuck that and fuck you! Don't you ever fucking talk to me again! Just be lucky we fucking need you on the ice or I'd fucking pound you right here. God damn cunt!" He punches the locker right above Louis' head and storms out to the rink hoping to get some frustration out before the game started.

Harry comes back around to stare at the dent. "Louis, this is why people don't tell you things." He runs a hand through his hair. This team was slowly falling apart. They were no longer a family, but just guys who tolerated each other.

Liam finishes getting changed and pulls Harry's jersey out of his sports bag and hands it to the lad. "Let's just get out there and make sure Zayn doesn't hurt anyone."

\------------

Zayn checks to make sure everyone is ready and in position. He's staring at the Wisconsin U centre and trying to read him. He hadn't managed to get any frustration out before the game and he was ready to hurt someone. Hockey was his release and he was wound up so tight he was ready to spring.

The puck drops and Zayn immediately back passes to Harry and goes for the strike. He can see Harry coming down the right and wanting to move so he cuts right quickly and slams the other teams left wing face first into the plexiglass.

The knot only tightens and Zayn is ready to scream in frustration.

Niall's eyes are on the prize so to speak. They won the last game because of him and he's not trying to be cocky. He skates past Zayn coming up to Harry's left in case he needed to pass it.

Zayn turns back to see the defence men for Wisconsin in position and wonders if he can cut in and slam them too before Harry and Buffalo get down there.

He takes up Harry's right and speeds ahead and gets the curved end of his stick in front of one of the defence man's skates and manages to trip up the player. The down boy is yelling for a call and Zayn just glides past him and circles round the back of the goal, ready to take out the other if needed.

The other defence man sees Zayn before he could get to him. He spins around and with one chance hit he steals the puck from Harry.

Niall's right on him. He comes up to his right checking him into one of the boards while managing to get the black disk back. He pumps one fist in the air racing back to where they were. The goal is wide open and he's ready to take the shot.

Zayn is pissed the kid managed to get the puck away from Harry. He turns to the kid just takes a swing. He's not even thinking about the game anymore. He throws his stick to the side and his shoving the Wisconsin player backwards and away from the goal. Finally, he must hit a nerve, the other player throws his stick down to and the gloves are off.

It's a full out fist fight and Zayn has his hand clenched tightly in the guy's jersey and he's shoving him against the boards and punching him in the face. The other boy is doing much the same to him, but doesn't happen to have a plexiglass friend to help him out.

Niall drops his stick tossing his helmet to the side hoping to talk some sense into the boy. "Zayn, what the fuck?!" He skates over pulling Zayn off. "You're going to cost us the game you twat!"

Zayn doesn't even register it's Niall and grabs his jersey as well and slams him up against the glass. Whistles are going off and the entire lines are swarming trying to make sense of what is going on.

The referee is trying get his way to the centre of the fight and figure out want happened.

Liam and Louis each have an arm around Niall and are yelling at him. "You okay?" "Why did you take your helmet off?" "Why are you so stupid?" "Zayn's gone fucking mental!"

The referee finally gets everything settled and the WU boy is told to switch out due to the split upper lip that Zayn has given him, Niall is given the choice to stay in or sit out a play, and Zayn is ejected from the game.

The Pakistani-American boy is screaming at the top of his lungs about discrimination and the calls being absolute bullshit. He ends up having to be escorted off the ice.

Niall shakes his aching head. "Fuck. Took off my helmet so he could hear me better." He tries standing on his own but he ends up swaying to far his back making contact with the rink.

"Shit, someone help me up." He groans sitting up his hand rubbing at the back of his head.

Liam and Louis each grab an arm and haul him up off the ice. "You need to sit out, mate. Check you for a concussion of something."

Liam is yelling to the team doctor and one comes to help assist them get Niall off the ice. Once he's on the bench, the doctor is kneeling in front of him.

"Niall, how many fingers am I holding up?" The doctor has his pointer and index finger held where the boy should be able to see it.

Niall rubs at his face. "Two, you're holding up two. I'm fine guys just dizzy." He assures shaking his head to clear it. "I was just breaking up the fight, not trying to get involved."

"We know." The doctor is trying to be calm, but one of his players just went absolutely crazy and nearly injured a teammate. "We're going to keep you out for a play or two. Alright?" The doctor explains. "I'm going to start putting pressure on random spots of your head. Tell me when it hurts, okay?"

Liam, Louis, and Harry are scrambling. They pull Stan out to replace Niall until he's ready to go back in and they send Sean to the penalty box to serve the major fighting and hooking call, a total of nine minutes.

Niall nods feeling him put pressure on different spots. "Nothing hurts." He was sure until he touched a tender area on the back of his head. "Fuck! I think I have a bump forming."

"That's going to be a nasty bruise, but I think you're going to be just fine. Just keep your helmet on." The doctor warns right as the next face off begins.

\------------

Harry enters the locker room sighing. They barely won the game in the final quarter 7-6. Louis managed to break the tie within the final thirty seconds.

Niall stumbles in afterwards holding an ice pack to his head. The locker room is completely silent staring at the blonde. He hadn't been able to get back in the game after the incident.

Liam is at his locker changing when he sees the dent in Louis' locker from before the game. He has to wonder what the hell happened out there that caused Zayn to go fucking ridiculous.

"Boys, gather around." The coach says softly, but everyone can hear since it's so quiet. "Zayn has been put on athletic probation. He won't be practicing with us tomorrow or Friday, but he will most likely be playing Saturday in the finals since he's the only centre we have."

He sighs and takes his Bears hockey hat off to rub at his hair. "He's talking with the school psychologist right now. If you've noticed anything that might have changed or when he changed, behaviour wise, please come let me know and we're going to try and find out what happened."

Niall looks incredulously at the man. "That fucking twat attacked me and you're going to let him play? There has to be a rule against this!"

Harry bites into his lip. "Sir, Zayn was really pissed off before the game."

"Niall, he's already told the counsellor that he didn't mean to hurt you. He said he didn't recognise you at first. Trust me though, he's going to be watched like a hawk when he plays." The coach says soothingly trying to get Niall to lower his voice. He turns to Harry and frowns. "Why? Who was he upset with?"

"Me." Louis calls out. "I kind of betrayed his trust and told someone extremely personal and that person then used it against him."

Niall glares at Louis. He better not be blaming. "He called me a fag! Sorry for not deciding to retaliate because his boyfriend was stepping out on him with some whore!"

Harry moves forward rubbing Niall's shoulder. "Hey, let's not have another Zayn incident."

The coach sighs. "Alright. So I suggest minimal contact with Zayn until Saturday. No secret practices or pow wows. I've taken his keys to the rink and the locker room and there's no more individual practice until further notice."

Everyone nods and the coach barks a goodnight and leaves the team in the locker room.

Louis rushing over to Niall. "I wasn't trying to pin this on you. I'm saying that's why he's mad at me because I told you."

"Whatever my head is throbbing and I need to lie down." He goes to his locker to change.

Hopefully the finals would be better.

\------------

'Hey, Ni. I know it's late and you're probably really tired, but I just want to know how the game went. Did you win? Did you lose? Did you score any goals?'

'Hey, Brian. Yeah we're going to the finals, but I didn't get to score. I only played half of the first quarter.'

'Half of the first quarter? Aren't you the first line? Shouldn't you be basically playing the whole game?'

'I was supposed to but my centre went ballistic and slammed me into the glass. I have a nasty bump forming.'

'What? Is this same guy who called the f word? I really don't like you being near him. Is hockey over entirely after the finals? Because I want you to get away from that campus once hockey is done.'

Niall sighs. 'I'm not just going to leave. Hockey's my life. It comes before anything and I'll put up with assholes to do what I love.'

'I'm not saying leave now. When hockey is all said and done for the season, I'm saying you should leave. Go back to Colorado afterwards if that's what you want. I mean, I'll be upset that you're in Colorado and I'm here, but that's my problem.'

'I don't know where I'll live. If the NHL picks me up I'll be moving to whatever state depending on the team.'

'Or Canada. Isn't Canada in there too? But if the Caps want you, you should stay here. Just saying. DC is just an awesome place to live.'

Niall's not sure what Brian's trying to hint at if he is trying to hint at anything. He's not looking to be in anything long term though. 'There's nothing keeping me here.' He hopes Brian gets the hint.

'Oh... I have work in the morning. I should go to bed. Feel better. Night.'

'Night.' Niall groans. He feels like an asshole.

\------------

Zayn looks around the room focusing on everything except what he's supposed to be focusing on. He doesn't think his he should be here. He did this shit last night.

He huffs. "I'm sorry. What was the question again?"

Clara sighs. She's sitting across from the boy, her legs crossed and a notepad resting on her thigh. "I need you to pay attention." She waits until she's sure he's listening this time. "What caused you to get so upset?"

Zayn huffs. "I told you last night. The guy stole the puck from Harry. I'm... Competitive." He can't meet her eyes and he fiddles with his fingers trying to keep occupied so the lady doesn't know he's lying.

She's been trained in telling when someone wasn't being truthful. "The more you lie, the more sessions you'll have." She leans forward. "Look I'm trying to help you. Tell me what set you off? It’s something deeper than a game. You attacked your own teammate."

"I told you I had no clue that was Buffalo. He shouldn't have gotten in the way anyway. We were perfectly fine without him." He stares at her. He feels like he's in prison and they're trying to convict him of something and he doesn't like it at all.

"You were in a fist fight. Let's start with simpler questions." She uncaps her pen. "Buffalo... He's your teammate. Do you know his real name?"

"Nathan? Nicaragua? I don't know. It begins with an N. Isn't that enough?" He leans back in his seat and stares up at the ceiling. "Can we hurry this up? I have something to do and I need to be back in my dorm for this."

She sighs. This wasn't going anywhere. "Okay we'll end on this note." She puts her notebook and pen on her desktop. "Is there a reason you don't learn his name? Avoiding a teammate will only lead to trouble."

Zayn got up quickly and practically ran to her office door. He turned back to look at her. "There's no point in learning his name if he doesn't belong here."

\------------

Andy's grinning like a madman slapping the Buffaloes centre on the back. "I can't believe we're in the finals!" He knows they're playing Cornell which means he'd see Zayn and get a look at who replaced him. "You guys are playing against your old Captain. Excited?"

The boys smiled and the centre looked up at him. "We know exactly how he plays. He doesn't conform very well, so he'll still probably be running by himself.

One of the defence men came gliding up. "What about you? You're playing against your ex. How are you going to hold up with that?"

Andy shrugs. "I'll get over it. Besides I've got Rachel I have something to look forward to after we win." He looks at the others. "What do you mean he doesn't conform well?"

"He doesn't take orders. You can tell him to run a play, and he'll do what he thinks is best. Completely does the opposite. He's ridiculously self-confident and cocky when it comes to hockey." The centre shrugs and watches as the Bears glide to their bench.

"Andy, you should go talk you them. See if you can weasel your way in with Zayn for the game"

Andy nods gliding over to the other time. "Hey guys, Zayn!"

Niall glances up confused. He wonders who he is but he seems to know the other guys.

Liam and Louis hug him and tell him how much they miss him. Even Josh gets in there for some time with Andy.

Zayn swallows the lump in his throat and tries to make any sound besides a whimper. "Andy... You should go. Rachel is probably waiting for you."

Andy frowns. "I'm not with Rachel anymore. I'm sorry what happened between us, Zayn." It’s all a lie but he needs Zayn to trust him again. It means he could persuade Zayn to let them win.

Zayn frowns and stares at the boy. "Why did you dump Rachel? Find someone new to fuck at that college of yours?"

Louis comes up and wraps an arm around Zayn's shoulders. He needs to get Andy to leave before Zayn gets angry. He doesn't want a repeat of Wednesday's game. "Why don't we talk about this after the game?"

Andy sighs shaking Louis off. "Zayn, please. It's just... I didn't have you to hold and she was just a warm body. God, Zayn, I miss you."

Niall glances up having figured out who he was. "I think you should go back to your own team."

Zayn looks over at Niall and glares at the boy. "Don't tell him what to do. He belongs over here more than you do." He turns back to Andy but can't look the boy in the eyes. "What did that make me? Just another warm body as well?"

Liam's eyes dart between the three boys. He doesn't like this one bit. "Zayn, we need to run drills. You guys can talk later."

Andy ignores everyone leaning down to kiss him. "I love you."

He skates back over to the other team. "That should do it."

The Colorado centre smiles and tries to hold his laughter in. This was going to be the easiest championship game yet.

On the other side of the ice, Zayn had a small smile on his face. Andy loved him and everything was right. Turning to the rest of the team, he tries (and fails) to hide his giddiness. "Okay, do a few quick pacing drills. Niall will lead you in them."

Louis furrows his brow and looks over at Liam. Did Zayn just use Niall's real name? And basically compliment him? This is weird.

Niall's eyebrows furrowed. He doesn't comment on the use of his name. "Let's go, I guess."

Ten minutes after their drills they were being called into position.

Zayn crouches down and sizes up the other centre. He looks clumsy and a bit unpredictable. He can use that to his advantage.

The puck drops and Zayn gets it and passes it quickly to Niall. Before skating forward into Andy's zone. He doesn't want anyone checking the boy and hurting him.

\------------

Niall's skating back to position and despite the fact that they're tied with two minutes left in the third period, Zayn and him are actually working well together and they were close to scoring.

The referee holds the puck about ready to finish the round.

Zayn looks back over at Niall. It's been a good game, but he's ready to finish up. He's tired and just wants to be in Andy's arms again and he's pretty sure everyone else wants to be with their beau.

The puck drops and Zayn misses and the other centre snatches it. He skates backwards trying to get more coverage at the net. He watches as Harry and Niall stay up for the attack.

The centre slaps the disc to Andy before Liam could steal it. Niall doubles back racing after the boy to reclaim the puck.

Zayn races after the two not wanting to see Niall hurt Andy. So far, Zayn has been the only one to check Andy, but he hasn't been doing it hard. The boards haven't even rattled when Andy touches them. He's going as fast as he can and the next thing he knows, he's got Niall between his body and the boards.

Niall smashes against the glass losing his helmet somewhere along the way. The glass rattles so hard it could have shattered. He stumbles back and he's not sure what happened next, but something thin cut through the curve of his neck.

Zayn is instantly apologetic as he watches Niall crumple to the ground. He's ready to help the lad up and get him to the bench to apologise profusely when the other team's centre comes over and pushes Zayn backwards.

He flails his arms trying to regain his balance, but ends end tripping over Niall and falling. He feels his skate snag something along the way and doesn't really think about it.

He's about to get up when he feels something seeping through the material of his uniform and looks down to see the leg that's still thrown over Niall covered in red.

Niall tries raising his head but he feels like his neck is ready to snap backwards. His gloved hand comes up and when he brings it back around to his face he sees his fingers dripping.

Blood is pouring down his neck and spreading across the ice. The back of his blonde hair is matted and dyed red.

Zayn can hear yelling and it's a couple of seconds before he realises it's him who's screaming for the team physician and for someone to call an ambulance. He looks down at Niall and tries to talk to the boy.

"Niall, listen to me okay? You're going to be fine. Pressure, you need pressure." He realises that there's nothing around to apply pressure with. He closes his eyes and reaches a hand out to apply pressure to the wound.

Louis is watching his teammate bleed out on the ice and the puddle is growing around Niall and Zayn. He doesn't do well with blood and Josh has already thrown up by the goal just watching the blood seep through the cut. He throws an arm out and clutches at Liam's jersey and manages to get the boy's attention. "I hate blood," he whispers as his grip goes slack and he's falling to ice, having fainted from the sight and overwhelming smell of blood.

"Holy shit!" Harry screams. He's next to Josh and he ends up vomiting along with half the guys from the Colorado.

Niall's trying to blink away the dots spotting his vision, but they're growing bigger and bigger. "Tired," he mumbles, eyes closing.

"Niall, keep your eyes open for me. I need you to be alert, son." The doctor says firmly as he finally reaches the pair. "Can't treat this. This is emergency room stuff." He eases the pressure from Zayn's hand off of Niall's neck and moves to avoid the spurts of blood he knows will come.

Zayn, who had removed his helmet to ensure that Niall could hear him, wasn't so lucky and got Niall's blood on his face as it spurted out of the boy and into the air.

The doctor applies the pressure and asks Zayn to help him get Niall up. Once the blond is on his skates, the rest of the coaching team is there to help and Zayn is left standing in a puddle of Niall's blood.

Harry's staring in horror at the puddle -now trail- of blood. He skates over on wobbly legs shoving Zayn, but he's so nauseous the push barely moves the other. "What the hell! Why did you check him? That's your fault!" He looks away from the blood his stomach churning. "Jesus Christ... It's like a scene from a horror movie."

Zayn just stares down at the ice where his skates are firmly planted. His knees give out and he's now kneeling in his teammate’s blood trying to figure out what to say. "I didn't want him to check Andy. He was going to hurt him and... I didn't mean to hit him that hard. I just wanted to stop him."

The referees are shooing players back to their benches and trying to get the ice ready to be played on again. They have so much puke and blood to clean up, but Zayn can't move. He can't do anything except sit there and wonder about the blond boy's fate.

Harry helps Zayn to his feet ushering him off the ice. They all head into their locker room waiting for the ice to be cleaned.

Everyone's standing around and it's never been so quiet. Harry's the one to break the tension. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

Liam shrugs. He doesn't want to offer false hope to Harry or anyone and have something go wrong. "I don't know. I'm not a doctor."

Zayn starts stripping himself of the blood soaked uniform and rips the protection pads from his body. He can feel the blood clinging to his skin as he stands there in nothing but his boxers. He grabs one of the towels from the supply closet and begins to head over to the showers. He stops and turns back to the team.

"Harry is going to be captain. I have to go. I can't go back out there. I just can't. I'm sorry, guys. There's somewhere else I need to be."

Harry's shocked. Half of the team have been playing hockey longer than him, but now he was being trusted with the most important role during the most crucial game. "I... Okay. Stan you're left wing, Sean you're right."

He closes his eyes tightly glancing towards Zayn. "Make sure he's okay."

Zayn nods and heads in towards the showers needing to scrub the blood from his face and hair and body.

Louis watches him go and bites at his bottom lip. "Do you think he did it on purpose? I mean, we all know he doesn't really like Niall and now he just seems so emotionless about it."

Liam looks over at Harry knowing the curly haired boy knows Zayn better than anyone on this team. "Hazza... What do you think?"

Harry bit his lip. "He said that he had to, that Niall was going to hurt Andy. Zayn didn't mean to do it that hard." He doesn't know what to believe really. Zayn didn't mean to, but it was his fault.

Louis hangs his head. "The other centre pushed him. Do you think maybe that when Zayn tripped, that's when his skate got him?"

Liam looks hopefully over at Louis. "That would make it Colorado's fault, right? I mean, Zayn still checked him, but it was the skate that sliced him."

Harry nods. He had been the closest so he had the best view. "A player was already down that's an illegal move." He sighs in relief before remembering something. "Whether it was their fault or not, there are NHL scouts out there and they're going to focus on the fact that Zayn plowed into his own teammate."

Louis sighs and rubs a hand over his face. "I hope Zayn has a backup plan for a career. There's no way a hockey coach would want that on his team. No way in hell is he getting drafted."

The coach comes into the locker room and looks around. "They've gotten all the throw up off and most of the blood off. There is still some red on the ice, but it's there until we have time to really get out there and clean."

He frowns when he notices Zayn is missing and the bloodied uniform is lying on the ground. "One minute and twenty seven seconds left. Just finish the game and we can go."

Harry nods. "I'm acting as captain now." He turns to the rest of the team. "In case anything happens let's win this for Niall."

The team cheers and bangs around making a ton of noise before filing back out onto the ice yelling Niall's name over and over again.

Zayn watches from behind the tiled wall as his teammates file out and once the coast is clear, heads back to his locker to change. He doesn't know why he isn't crying. He wants to, he really does. He's so emotionally distraught over everything and he's sure his therapy appointment on Monday is going to be the worst.

He finishes changing and wonders if there's anyone he should call for Niall. Finding the bolt cutters they had to use on Dan's locker early, his gets Niall's lock off and starts rooting through his stuff for a phone.

"Zayn?" Stan queries coming around the corner. He honestly thought he left. "What are you doing?" He looks at the open locker. "That's not your locker."

"I'm going to call his mom or his dad or someone. He needs them, Stan. He needs someone." Zayn finds his phone and starts going through his contacts looking for someone. "Is there anyone in DC that he hangs out with? Anyone who can get to the hospital quickly?" He's kind of asking Stan, but he's more or less just talking in general.

"I don't know, try his mom or dad. I don't know much about Niall, mate." He shrugs his shoulders. "You were the closest to him. How bad was the cut?"

Zayn looks up at the boy. "I don't know. It looked really bad. There was so much blood." He closes his eyes and thinks. "All I know is that it was deep and serious."

Stan bites into his lip nodding towards the phone. "If you don't call anyone and he needs someone so badly, why don't you go?" He heads towards the door considering he was left wing. "Ask the coach. He'll know what hospital he went to."

Zayn looks down at the phone in his hands. He should at least take Niall his phone so he could call whoever he needed. He grabs his college hoodie and slips his beanie on and heads out to the bench to find the coach. "Hey, what hospital did Niall get transported to? I'm going to make sure he's okay."

The coach looks at the medical waiver he was handed. "St. Jude's." The coach sighs. "Son, you might not only have lost your opportunity at the big leagues, but if this injury is serious, you may have blown Niall's chance too."

"It was an accident. I was going to help him up when I was pushed. I swear I would never do something like that on purpose." Zayn watched as the boys took their marks on the ice. He swallowed and headed back down through the locker room and out to make his way to the hospital.

\------------

Zayn heads into the emergency waiting room and walks right up to the nurses’ station. "My friend was brought here by ambulance. Can you please tell me how he's doing?" He's trying not to let his panic seep through in his voice. He just wants to know that Niall is okay. Make sure that he isn't dead.

The nurse smiles typing a few things in. The smile vanishes when she reads the screen though. "Niall Horan right? He's currently in surgery. It's too early to tell whether or not he'll be... Alright."

Zayn bites at his lip. "Th-Thanks. Can you please just keep me updated? I'll... I'll just be over there."

He heads over to one of the chairs and sits down staring at Niall's phone that rested in his hands. Sighing, he scrolls down the contact list till he comes to the one marked 'Mum' and pressed the green button and listens to the ringing in his ear.

Maura's watching TV when her phone goes off. "Niall? How's Washington D.C. sweetheart?'

Zayn's breath hitched as he heard the chipper voice float through the phone. He can't believe the hospital hasn't called her yet. "Uh, hi Miss Horan. I'm Zayn Malik and I play hockey with your son. There's been an incident."

"Oh, hello. Incident? Is my baby alright?" She tries to keep her voice level and calm but it’s failing her.

"Well we're not really sure right now. He's in surgery. He took a nasty hit and fell on the ice. I was pushed and tripped and my skate kind of caught Niall's skin. He was rushed to the emergency room and we're waiting to hear how he is."

"Not really sure? What do you mean? Are you telling me there's a chance that he might not make it?" She's starting to hyperventilate.

"I'm so sorry, ma'am. I just thought you should know. I feel horrible. It's my fault. I haven't been the nicest to your son since he got here, but I would never wish this on him. I'm so, so sorry." He's crying now. All he can picture is this woman sitting in her living room worrying about her son who is lying on an operation table over a thousand miles away.

"Mean to him? Are you the boy who's been insulting my baby and making him cry?" She wipes at her eyes glancing at a picture frame next to her with Niall's bright smiling face at eight.

Zayn is full on sobbing. He was horrible enough to Niall to make him cry to his mother. He was the worst. "I should never have done to him what I did. I completely understand if you hate me and blame me if Niall... Doesn't make it. I already hate and blame myself."

Maura sighs carding her fingers through her hair. "No, honey, I don't blame you. If... If something happens then it was his time and God wants him."

"I hope it doesn't come down to that. I tried looking for Mister Horan's number, but I can't find it. I guess... Would you just let him know about Niall when he gets home?" Zayn realises that he knows absolutely nothing about Niall's home life. He doesn't know if he dad is alive, around, or even what he does for a living. He should have gotten to know his teammate better instead of hating him for something he can't control.

Maura wonders if Niall ever even opened up to these boys. "Sweetie Niall hasn't spoken to his dad in fourteen years."

He rubs a hand down his face. "Okay. Is there anyone in the DC area I can call? An aunt or family friend maybe?"

"No, all of his family but me are back in Ireland." She sighs. "We don't communicate with our family and all of his friends are here."

"Okay. Thank you. I'll keep you updated as I hear things. I'm so sorry, Miss Horan. I really, really hope he makes it.”

"Thank you for calling, Zayn." She hangs up crying into her hands.

\------------

Harry was happy they had won, but it was short lived knowing Niall was in the emergency room.

Both the Bears and Buffaloes were there to support Niall. All of them filling the waiting room.

Harry finds Zayn sleeping in a plastic chair. He grabs his shoulder shaking him. "Hey, Zayn, wake up."

Zayn stirs a little and scrunches his nose before cracking open his eye to see a mass of boys staring down at him. Some look so angry while others just look so upset.

He clears his throat. "Hey, guys. What time is it? Who won?" He sits up from his slumped position and listened as the joints cracked and popped.

Harry bites his lip. "We did, but that's not what matters right now." He looks towards the front desk. "How's he doing?"

"Last I checked he was in surgery, but they weren't sure he was going to make it. That was about," Zayn looks down at his phone, "an hour and a half ago. They said they would keep me updated."

He blinks a few more times trying to completely wake up. "I can go ask again. Just let me get up."

Harry nods moving back so the Arabian boy could get up. "Please? I want to make sure he's okay." He's never felt more anxious about anything in his life.

Zayn nods and shakes his head a little to get rid of the last little bit of tiredness. He gets up and trudges over to the desk again."Hey. So I know I asked like ninety minutes ago, but the boys just got here and they want to know how Niall is doing. Is there anything new I can tell them?"

The nurse smiles wanly. "We have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?" She has the information pulled up on screen glancing at him.

Zayn's heart sinks at words 'bad news'. "Uh, good news first. Although I really don't want bad news at all." He thinks about having to call Niall's mom again and tell her something went wrong or something to that extent. He doesn't know if he can do that.

She nods understandably. "He's officially out of the red zone, he's going to make it." She hopes that'll cheer him up. "Bad news now?"

Zayn smiles lightly. "At least he'll be alive." He laughs bitterly. The bad news could still be anything from low blood sugar to brain cancer. "Yeah. Bad news, please?"

"Well the blade cut through a lot of tendons and we're afraid it may have severed the spinal cord." She knows the next part might be hard to hear. "Essentially with how high the cut is he could become quadriplegic."

Zayn blinks in confusion. "So he's paralysed? I'm sorry. I'm not really sure what a quadriplegic is." He really hopes the word just sounds a lot like paraplegic and doesn't mean the same thing. He's going to die if Niall can't walk or skate ever again.

She frowns. "We don't know if he is but he could be. Quadriplegic means that he'd be paralysed in all four limbs." She sees that it upsets him what she's saying and she feels terrible.

Zayn clenches his eyes shut tightly. "Okay. Thank you. I need to tell the teams and call his mother. Um, is there anything else at all that you can tell me right now?"

Maybe he'll get Harry to call Niall's mother. He doesn't know if he can take hearing the pain in her voice. She's all alone and probably immensely upset about her son.

"No, that's all we have now. I'm very sorry." She frowns.

Harry almost tackles Zayn when he walks back, but Liam has his arms wrapped around his waist. "So? Is he okay?"

Zayn looks at everyone and realises that he has to approach this like he would in the locker room to even get through this without crying in front of the guys. He clears his throat and steels his face. "He's going to make. They say he's no longer in the red zone. There's always a downside though. The blade cut through a lot of tendons and possibly severed the spinal cord. They're afraid he might be quadriplegic."

Josh blinks looking at the other guys. "I hope I'm not the only one who doesn't know what that means."

Harry buries his face in Liam's chest. He knows what it means he has sports Med classes with Niall.

"Basically he could be paralysed in his arms and legs." Zayn looks down at the floor and shoves his hands in his pockets.

The room was quiet for a moment before an explosion of sound hit the waiting room. Some boys were shouting, some crying, some praying. It was chaotic and Zayn just wanted them all gone. He looks to Liam and points to the door to the outside and takes Niall's phone from his pocket hoping the boy gets the message.

Liam nods as he holds Harry closer to him and whispers comforting words to him.

Harry's crying. "Oh my God. He might not be able to play hockey." He's trembling against the older boy's chest. "Li." He whimpers.

"I'm here, Harry. I'm here. Don't worry. I got you." He runs his fingers through the tangle of curls and thanks god it wasn't Harry. It could have been anyone who went after Andy and Liam, while upset about Niall, is so thankful it wasn't his boyfriend.

Louis is crying freely and sobbing and lightly slapping at the Colorado centre's chest. "There was a player down! Why did you feel the need to push him? This is all your fault! You ruined his life!"

The doctor who's been treating Niall walks out wearing blue scrubs. His shirts and part of his pants are splattered with blood.

"Niall Horan?" He calls hands folded behind his back.

All the boys stop and look up at him.

Louis looks to Liam and sees that he's got a lap full of Harry to attend to. He clears his throat and wipes at the tears and moves to the front of the group. "That's us."

He's shaking, trying to keep himself composed. He feels a hand on his shoulder and Nick is there helping to hold the brunet together.

He smiles to the large crowd of boys. Clearly this boy was loved. "I have good and bad news." He offers a grin hoping that it would relax them. "The surgery was a success. He's going to make it and fully function.

"The bad news, some of the nerves were already too strained. He's not going to regain feeling in his right hand. He might not be able to work it, but we're waiting for him to wake up so we can fully see the extent of the damage."

Louis smiles brightly. "So he'll be able to walk and skate again? That's fantastic!" He feels a bit upset about his right hand, but better just that than all if his limbs. He turns and buries his face in Nick's chest and hugs the boy happily.

The doctor sighs. "Depends, how important are your hands in hockey? Can you play with one?"

Louis gives the doctor a weird look. "If he does end up being able to use it and all, he could still play even with no feeling, right?"

The doctor nods. "Eventually. He'll have to go through muscle therapy." He looks over the sheets. "If he can work his hand, therapy should only take a year before he can get back on the ice.”

Louis nods. "Considering the season just ended, he probably won't like that, but it's better than being out for good."

Liam is beaming down at Harry and kissing the boy's curls. He's so relieved and ecstatic about Niall being mostly okay. "I love you, Harry."

Harry smiles through the tears. "This is about Niall and you're declaring your love? Weirdo."

Liam chuckles and kisses Harry forehead. "I know it's horrible and all, but I've been sitting here the whole time just being happy that it wasn't you. Just thought you should know that I love you."

Harry grins softly kissing the older boy. "You can show how much you love me later."

Liam blushes, but nods nonetheless. "If we ever go back to the dorms tonight. I want to see Niall before heading out."

Louis thanks the doctor and looks around for Zayn and frowns when he doesn’t see the darker boy. He turns to ask Liam where Zayn went, but the boy is having a terribly romantic moment with his boyfriend so he calls out to someone else.

"Andy! Can you find Zayn and tell him the better-than-bad news? I know he'll be happy to see you and I think you boys should have a small chat."

Andy looks wide eyed. "Uh, just give me a minute in the bathroom." He heads away.

Mike, the right wing for the Buffaloes, sighs. "I'll tell him, need to talk to Zayn anyways."

He exits the hospital and not long after he spots the tan boy. "Uh, hi... I'm Mike, right wing for the Buffs."

Zayn looks at the boy. "Miss Horan, I'll call you right back. Someone is trying to talk to me." He hangs up with Niall's mom and turns to boy extending a hand. "Zayn Malik, overtly emotional train wreck and centre of the Bears."

He shakes his hand. "Look I don't want to upset you, but you should know that Andy didn't break up with Rachel." He knows Andy's going to be pissed at him. "He just said that so you would throw the game. I just thought you should know."

Zayn closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "Is it sad that I sort of knew what he was doing and I still let it happen? I slammed my own teammate into the boards to ensure that Andy wouldn't get hurt."

He wipes at his eyes and laughs bitterly. "Guess his plan didn't work. We still won. Granted I had nothing to do with it, but... God I'm such an idiot."

Mike sighs quietly. "Doctor came out, Niall's going to be fine, but he's lost feeling in his right hand." He sees Andy coming out. "I have to go."

Andy passes Mike on the way while he wrapped his arms around the smaller male. "Hey, babe. What'd Mike want?"

Zayn wants Andy to tell him about Rachel and the lie. He wants to believe that maybe Andy still has a shred of respect for him. "Just telling me about Niall's update."

He leans back into Andy's embrace and lets himself enjoy it for the moment because it'll be gone shortly. "So how are you doing out it Colorado? Do you like it out there?"

Andy nods rubbing his thumb over Zayn's knuckles. "It's great, beautiful. The mountains are breathtaking." He kisses his cheek tenderly. "Why are we here? Don't you hate this kid? There's no reason to still be here."

"I slit the back of his neck open and nearly paralysed the kid. I think that calls for me to be a little sympathetic." Zayn lets out a shuddery breath.

He can do this, right? Let Andy love him one more time and then tell him that he knows about Rachel. Besides this is payback. "Where else would we be if we weren't here? I'd probably be at a party and you'd be in your hotel room. At least this way we're together."

"Why don't we just leave? You've been here long enough. Why don't we go back to my hotel?" He trails his lips down the back of Zayn's neck, his hands moving down his sides.

"I love you, babe." He assures biting at his ear.

Andy knows every spot that makes Zayn melt and he knows that Zayn's ear is his weakness. They've had sex plenty of times so Andy knows.

Zayn's eyes flutter shut the second Andy's breath hits the outer shell of his ear and he has to remind himself that Niall is in the hospital and that he needs to be here. "As much as I'd love to let you have your way with me, I can't leave. I told Miss Horan I'd keep her updated. Unless you're willing to find somewhere here, I can't." Zayn half hopes that Andy says yes, and half hopes he says no.

"Pass the phone to Harry or Liam or someone. They won't mind. My hotel room's only a few blocks from here." He spins Zayn around so they're chest to chest. "Please? For me?" He knows his other weakness, licking into the hollow point of his neck.

Zayn contemplates the offer and he knows he shouldn't. He'll only end up hurt, but he wants this and he needs this. Everyone already hates him for almost killing Niall... "Stay here. I'm going to go give Harry the phone." He presses their lips together and that's when he knows he's done for.

He pulls away and heads inside and motions Harry over away from the group and holds the device out for him to take. "I have something I need to take care of. Can you keep Niall's mom updated for me. You need to call her and tell her the last update."

"Uh, sure. You positive you can't take care of whatever your problem is later?" Harry asks. He slips the phone into his pocket wondering what he could possibly need to take care of.

Zayn swallows the huge lump in his throat. "I just need to say good bye to an old friend. That's all." He looks over his shoulder and sees Andy standing outside leaning against a pillar and waiting. "I'm not really sure I'll ever see him again."

He looks back and Harry, but stares at the boy's shoes. "Thanks for keeping Niall's mom updated. Oh, and you have to call. She doesn't know how to text."

Harry follows Zayn's line of sight but he doesn't comment. "I hope you're making the right decision."

"Me too." Zayn whispers as he turns and heads back out the door.

\------------

Niall's eyes open and at first all he hears is a steady, constant beeping. Everything is white, so white.

"Ugh." He groans head throbbing. He tries to move his head but he can't. "Hello? Can't move." He hopes someone is there so they could tell him how he ended up in a hospital.

"Oh! You're awake. We weren't expecting you for another hour at least. Let me get the doctor, darling." An elderly nurse leans over into his view and smiles.

"Are you in any pain? Do you want any medicine before I leave?" She’s running her hands along his arm trying to see if he can feel her touch without alarming him to his injuries.

Niall shakes his head. "No, no pain but I don't know what's happening." He's much more disoriented when he tries to raise his head. He lets it fall back against the pillow groaning.

"Okay. Let me get the doctor. See if he can try and fill in any of the blanks for you. Once he's done though, you have quite the fan base waiting for you in the lobby." She heads into the hall and quickly spots Doctor Cox and sends him into the blond's room.

"Hello, Niall. I'm Doctor Cox and I'm your doctor while you're here. I'm going to ask you to close your eyes and I'll help you sit up. I want to check the sutures in your neck to make sure they aren't open or infected. You had the best surgeon so that shouldn't be a problem."

"Surgeon? What happened to me?" He's freaking out a bit, but he closes his eyes to still his breathing. Niall aids the man in slowly sitting up and the position is weird. "Please, why am I in a hospital?"

Doctor Cox sighs as he places a gloved finger gently against the wound. "Why don't we start with something easier?" Once was happy with the sutures, he carefully helps the boy back into a lying position. "Tell me what you remember and I can try and fill in the blanks for you.

Niall sighs. "I was playing in the finals and Zayn shoved me into the boards and I fell." After that it’s literally a blur. He can't remember how he got here. There's an actual blank spot in his memory.

He sighs. "From what I can tell and the pieces I've heard, you went down and your teammate was pushed and end up tripping over you. Your neck ended up getting the blade of his skates a little at the back of it." He checks over Nialll's vitals and surmises that everything looks good so far. "We're actually going to check your limbs for permanent damage."

Niall's eyes widen. "Damage? Oh God how bad do you think I'll be?" He's more than a little frightened. The idea of having damage to his body when he can clearly remember being fine before.

"Well, that's what I'm here- to find out. I'm going start with your legs and try to get to the bottom fp this." He smiled brightly trying to calm the boy.

Pulling back the bottom of the blankets and sheets, he starts with the easy end and picks up his foot. "This is going to hurt a little if you have any feeling in your legs at all."

"Shit. Yeah I feel that," he hisses trying to jerk his leg back. "I'm fine doctor, really." He just wants him to put down his leg because it hurts like hell.

Doctor Cox chuckles and moves onto the next leg. "There was also some bruising along your ribcage, but there was no damage except for the discolouration- probably from where you got hit."

He picked at Niall's other's leg and began pressing at the muscles in his calf. "Can you feel that?"

"Yes! God yes I can feel that! Can I just see my friends or whatever?" He huffs. Niall's not trying to be irritating, but he's extremely sore.

The man looks up at him sympathetically as he places Niall's leg down and tucks the sheet and blanket back in place. "I have to check your arms, but then I can let some of your friends in."

He moves to Niall's left arm and grasps at his hand, almost like they're meeting for the first time, and lets his other wander down the boy's arm pressing at different pressure points as he went. "You need to tell me if it hurts and how serious the pain is. We're more worried about your arms than your legs."

"Hurts. Not bad, but its sore." He sighs looking down at his arms. "Why are you guys worried more about my arms?" He raises his eyebrows.

Doctor Cox sighs and continues to rub at sore limb. "Well, the skate cut was pretty deep and we're worried that it may have severed your spinal cord. During surgery, we were able to get a response in the muscles and nerves from your legs, but the arms didn't move."

He sighed as he moved to the other side of the bed and grasped Niall's right hand and rubbed at his muscles there. "We want to make sure they're still fully functioning and so far it's all good. You may have some nerve damage that diminishes the pain in your arm, but at least you can use it."

He looks down at Niall's right hand in his. "Can you feel that at all?"

"No." Niall flexes his fingers, but his hand honestly could have belonged to someone else. "Is there something wrong with my hand? I can't feel anything." He's a little panicked looking at his hand.

"This is what we were afraid of. You don't have much, if any, live nerves in your right hand. We'll come back to this, but I'm going to move up your arm. Tell me when you start to feel anything." The physician slowly creeps up Niall's arm and gets from his wrist to his elbow. "Anything? Not even like a muscle spasm?"

Niall uses his left hand to point an inch below the crease of his elbow. "There. I can start feeling there." He glances wide eyed at the man. "Will I be able to play hockey?"

The doctor moves to the end of the bed and starts to scribble on Niall's chart. "That all depends on the motor skills you still have in your right hand."

He grabs the remote for the wall mounted television and moves a small roller tray over Niall's lap and places the device on top. "I want you to try and pick up the remote. I'm going to watch and see how much dexterity you still have and see how long it takes you to pick it up."

Niall reaches for the remote, slowly moving. When someone doesn't have feeling, movement is more cautious and careful. "I can move it, but it’s weird." He grips the remote turning the television on.

"That's more than we were hoping for." The doctor says happily. "Okay. So we're going to have to go to physical therapy. It won't bring the feeling back, but it will help with that weird feeling."

He scribbles more on Niall's clipboard and hangs it up when he's done. "You’ll be back on the ice in a year. Now, you have two very upset bunch of boys in the waiting room. I can only send back four at a time. Anyone specific you want to see first?"

Niall nods. "Harry, Liam, Louis, and..." He needs to talk to Zayn. Needs to punch him in the jaw or something. He's pissed that he checked him and now he has all these problems. "And Zayn."

Doctor Cox nods. "I'll get Angie to send them in. If you need anything, this button will call the nurses desk. Angie, the elderly lady who was here when you woke up, is your lead nurse. Don't feel afraid to ask for something, okay?"

He smiles and walked out to find the older woman. Once found, he tells her to grab the four boys and lead them to Niall's room.

\------------

Harry's at Niall's bedside in an instant. "Hey, buddy. How you feeling?"

He sighs trying to look around the three boys. "Where's Zayn? I have to talk to him. By talk I mean my hands around his throat."

Louis looks down at the ground. "He had something to take care of. He was here though. Missed the rest of the game to come make sure someone was here for you."

"Yea," Liam adds. "He called your mom and kept her updated on your progress and everything. He just needed to get this one thing done."

Niall rolls his eyes, but he's furious. "He almost killed me! What could he possibly need to take care of?"

Harry sighs. "This is only an assumption, but I'm sure he's with Andy."

Louis frowns and scrunches his nose in Harry's direction. "I know Zayn has been an asshole lately, but would he really leave a teammate in the hospital for a fuck?"

"He has been really hooked on Andy lately." Liam says as he moves to Niall's other side. "Maybe this'll be good for him. Teach him that Andy isn't worth the trouble."

Niall grits his teeth. "I can't feel my arm. I can't play hockey for a year. He did this to me and he can't even bother to stay because his cheating ex wants to use him?" He's fuming and steam is practically rolling off of him.

Louis bites at his lip. "Calm down, Ni. You can't blame this entire this entire thing on Zayn. I mean, Colorado's centre is just as much to blame."

"At least Zayn shows regret. Jason just looks like he doesn't care what happens." Liam chimes in as he sits in a chair by the bed and holds Niall's hand.

"I don't give a fuck about Jason. Zayn's supposed to be my teammate. He can fuck off. I was trying to be civil, but I'm done." He hisses lying back. He starts to flex his right hand.

"This doesn't even feel like my arm." He sighs. His eyes travel down to look at the seemingly useless limb.

Liam sighs heavily. "Coach should never have let Zayn play tonight. Even his therapist said he wasn't ready to go back out there."

Louis nods in agreement. "At least it's not worse. I thought for sure you were dead, Ni. There was just so much blood and Zayn was screaming and guys were throwing up all over the ice... It was horrible."

Niall sighs. "See I don't remember any of that. I remember getting smashed against the boards." He furrows his eyebrows. He hates not being able to recall anything.

"Be lucky you don't remember it. It was probably one of the worst things I've ever seen." Louis reaches out and laces his fingers with Niall's right hand.

Footsteps can be heard pounding down the hall and then Niall's door is being flung open to show an out of breath Zayn standing there. "Thank god you're awake. You fucking scared the shit out of me." He turns to face Harry. "You told his mother he's awake right?"

Harry nods. He hands Niall's phone back to him forgetting to hand it to him.

Niall's strangely calm. He points to the door while keeping his gaze on the black haired boy. "Get out."

Zayn blinks a couple times in confusion. "What? I just got here! I haven't even had time to make you angry." He walks to the end of the bed and leans on the railing. "Seriously though, you doing okay? The nurse scared me when I first got here and she said they weren't sure you would make it."

Niall doesn't want to waste his time screaming and yelling. "Zayn, get out. I'm plenty pissed."

Harry sits in Liam's lap afraid of confrontation. He was a child when it came to this stuff.

"Look, I'm sorry I checked you. I wasn't paying attention and got caught up in my own personal agenda. It was a dick move and I'm sorry. What more do want from me?" He didn't understand why Niall was so pissed. It wasn't his fault the Colorado player decided to be a proper twat. "If you're going to be mad at anyone, hate your other team. They're the ones who caused this."

"You slammed me to protect your cheating boyfriend. Guess what? He's probably still cheating on you and you leave me to go have a quick fuck! I know you hate me, but that's a low move, asshole." Niall's no longer calm, his cheeks are red and eyes narrowed. "Get out or I'll get the nurse to call security."

Zayn looks to Harry. He's the only one who could have even known why he left the hospital. "Whatever. I don't this and I don't need any of you." He storms from the room, slamming the door behind him.

Liam sighs. "What the hell has gotten into him lately? He's been acting absolutely mental."

"Maybe he couldn't handle the fact the Niall is a better hockey player than him." Louis shrugs. "Although, I'll be surprised if he ever picks up his skates again."

Niall sighs lying back on the hospital mattress. "No offense, but you guys can go. I'm tired." He turns in his bed hoping to fall asleep.

\------------

Niall groans feeling great to be home. He tosses his bag onto his living room couch, flexing his fingers. He had started physical therapy two weeks prior to being released and he had to go back every Thursday.

Liam smiles as Louis, Harry, and he entered the home behind Niall. "I guess you're excited to be home."

Louis chuckles. "I think the last time I was here you were going out with Brian. Whatever happened to him? Now that you have time what with hockey being over, you should reconnect with him. It'll be a great distraction."

He heads into the kitchen and raids Niall's fridge to grab four beers and heads back to the boys.

Niall groans even louder at the mention of the older man. "He wanted something long term and I wasn't and won't be ready."

Harry collapses onto the adjacent loveseat leaving just enough room for Liam. "I hear you. Choosing a long term partner is difficult."

"Hey!" Liam squawks as he plops down next to Harry. "Well then, see if you get any for the next week."

Louis cackles as he hands the beers around. "What's your aversion to long term? I mean, I get that you aren't ready, but won't be ready? What's that even mean?"

Harry kisses all along Liam's jaw. "No baby I just meant that it’s hard. It was hard for me, but then I met you."

Niall ignores the couple. "I just don't see myself ending up with anyone is all."

"That's the point of dating, Niall. I didn't think I'd meet anyone ever, but I found Eleanor. And those twats found each other. Just give it a chance. He might surprise you." Louis opens his beer and takes a long swig. "So, talking about long term commitments, Eleanor wants to move in together after college. What should I do?"

Niall shrugs his shoulders to Louis' question. "I'm not good with shit like that. Don't ask me, no offense."

Harry grins. "Well, Lou, have the two of you said I love you yet?"

Louis bites at his lip. "She says it all the time. I... Haven't said it to her yet."

"What! Mate, that's huge! You guys have been together for a year now." Liam says as he chokes on his beer.

Harry nods seriously. "Take it from the... Gayer one in a male relationship. If I were to say love you to Liam I'd give him time to say it back, but after a while I'd start to think maybe he doesn't feel the same. Eventually I'd end it in fear of getting hurt."

Niall chugs his drink watching the water lazily travel down the can. Curiously he holds it in his right hand, sighing. "I can't feel it."

Louis looks over at Niall and frowns sympathetically. "At least you're not right handed. That would suck big time. And at least you can't feel the pain in your muscles after a therapy session."

Liam glares over Louis. "Don't try and change the subject. Tell El you love her and want to move in with her. Or tell her that you're an idiot and she deserves better and end it. Don't drag her along this way, Lou."

"Thank you! You're going to look like a jackass to every girl on campus if you let this drag on. Cut the rope or tie the knot." Harry smiles.

Niall looks at his hand, the condensation splashed across his palm. "I can see the water and I know it's there, but I can't feel it."

Louis pointedly ignores the couple yelling at him about his life and turns his full attention to Niall. He places his own hand in his friend's palm and laces their fingers together. "Hey, you'll be fine. And in a year, you'll be using it like nothing ever happened. Trust me. You'll be in the pros in no time. You can be drafted this year and labelled as injured reserve and then shock everyone the next season."

Niall huffs. "But you don't have to deal with this shit. Your hand is just fine and you don't have an ugly wound on your neck." He's not trying to be moody but he can't help it. It’s just not something he's used to, being injured.

"I mean, I'll go fuck up my hand if it makes you feel better. I'm not playing hockey after graduation so that's always an option." Louis uses his other hand to card his fingers through Niall's blond bangs.

"The wound isn't ugly, Ni." Liam says as he tries to placate the boy. "You can barely see it since your hair is longer in the back. And it'll be a great story for your husband and adopted children to hear."

Niall glances at Liam. "I'm sorry, but I hate kids and I'm shit at dating so there goes the whole husband thing too." He shrugs. He doesn't feel bad about it either. Some people prefer to be alone and Niall happens to be one of them. "And no bullshit about me changing my mind. Just accept that I'm alone, I do."

Liam sighs and pulls Harry into his lap and nuzzles his face in the boy's curls. "You'll get lonely eventually and then you'll see that I'm right."

Louis merely rolls his eyes. "It's a pity you won't take a chance on Brian. He seemed to make you so happy."

Niall closes his eyes. He's been so annoyed and easily irritated since initially waking up in the hospital after his accident. "If the three of you are going to criticize my choices the door is over there." He points to it as if it weren't obvious.

Louis holds his hands up in surrender. "Sorry for wanting you to be happy. How about we trade lives? You deal with El and I'll be alone. I like that."

Liam grunts. "You wouldn't have to deal with El if you just told her you loved you."

Harry sits up glaring. "Louis Tomlinson, I'll get up and slap the shit out of you. Why are you being so fucking stubborn about this?"

Niall groans getting up. "You guys don't need to be so loud you know?"

"Sorry, Ni." Louis apologises before turning back to the other two and trying to keep his voice down low. "Maybe I'm not ready. Maybe I want to live with someone else. Moving in together kind of implies marriage at some point and that's not on my list of 'Must Do's'."

Liam shakes his head slightly. "Well if you can't commit to El, then you shouldn't tell Niall that he needs to think commitment."

\------------

Zayn watches from behind the bleachers as Niall slips his skates on and spends five minutes trying to lace them up with his bum hand. He watches as the blond slowly stands and holds onto the wall for support. He shouldn't be doing this. Zayn had overheard Louis talking about how the doctor told Niall to take it easy for the first couple months, but here he is trying to skate.

Zayn admires that Niall has this fire inside him that makes him passionate about the ice, but he wonders if this is safe at all. Watching Niall on the ice is like watching a newborn fawn trying to learn how to walk- clumsy, disoriented, and just not at all any good.

Niall stumbles on the ice, barely managing to catch himself from falling. He licks his lips, stick held in the tight fist his left hand made. He knows he could hurt himself, but being away from the rink was hurting him.

He drops a puck near his skates after digging it out of his pocket. It was signed by Gabe Landeskog, a forward for the Colorado Avalanche. He carefully positions his stick trying to slap shot the puck. Unfortunately it only slides two feet.

Zayn can't look away from the broken boy in front of him. That's his fault. As much as he likes to blame the other team, this was entirely his fault.

Clara, his therapist, told him it was natural when a boy of skill comes in and threatens Zayn’s alpha position to want to hurt him. All this time, Zayn keeps saying it was because of Andy, but he was just worried about his own skin.

He sighs and slips the skates he's carrying from his shoulder and pulls them on and laces them tightly. He cautiously walks towards the rink till he's back on solid water and smiles. "Hey... Need some help?"

Niall doesn't jump, he only turns around. "No. I'm fine." He turns his nose up almost hopping across the ice. Skating was supposed to be graceful and he didn't have that. His right arm threw off his balance entirely. He aims his stick failing to even hit the disk but he continues on, trying it over and over again.

Zayn skates up behind him and grabs his stick on the backswing. "Come on. I'll help you. You have to get used to the rattling of the stick being a few seconds after since you can't feel the vibrations with your right."

He lines himself behind Niall and wraps his arms around the boy's solid body to grasp the stick in their hands. He moves the puck into the right place before helping guide the stick back and bringing it forward quickly to slap the puck and send it down the ice into the open net.

"See? Just have to get used to it. It's like picking up a stick for the first time all over again." Zayn whispers.

Niall shivers wrenching himself away from Zayn. "I said I was fine." He skates forward having to get on his hands and knees to retrieve his puck.

"I don't know how to fucking play, right?" He sneers glaring down at the ice.

Zayn holds his hands up in a peaceful manner. "I just wanted to help. Look, you don't have to believe me if you don't want to, but I really am sorry. I knew what I was doing when I slammed you into those boards, but hurting you this badly was never my intention."

He looks over at the benches and spots one of the school's sticks before gliding over and grabbing it. "How about a little one on one?"

Niall chuckles in disbelief. "I can't even hit a puck right. How the hell am I going to play?” He shakes his head. Zayn probably just wants to beat him when he has the upper hand. "It’s one thing to hurt me, but now you're just kicking me while I'm down.”

"I'm trying to be friendly. You don't want my help, that's fine. Just thought you might want some kind of company though." Zayn huffs and tosses the stick back towards the bench.

He glides to the penalty box and sits himself down in the small four walls. "Is this what you want? You want me to serve my time? Gladly. I won't get up until you tell me or you leave."

Niall rolls his eyes. He's determined to do this on his own because he doesn't need anyone else. He's always depended on himself and he'll continue depending on himself. He skates across the ice shakily. He's back at trying again. He's trying to get it in the net. "I can do this. I will not let my injury control me, but I will control my injury." He whispers.

Zayn watches from the penalty box as Niall prepares himself to take another swing. He knows it won't go far. Niall hasn't built up enough strength and, since he can't feel, doubts himself with the power he's using. He wants to call out what Niall needs to adjust, but figures he should stay silent and let the blond have his moment.

The puck isn't sliding far and Niall's starting to get frustrated.

He goes to hit it, but one blade snags against one lace and he's falling on his ass. Without hesitation he chucks his helmet across the rink screaming out. "Fuck! Fuck!" He places his head between his knees and he's crying in absolute anger.

Zayn is up and out of the penalty box as quick as he can be. He's gliding to a stop a couple of inches from Niall before sinking to his knees a placing a hand gently on the blond's back.

"You okay? You hurt anything?" He was worried about Niall re injuring himself and hopes to god he's okay.

"Only my pride." Niall sniffles wiping at his eyes with his knuckles. He sits on the rink for a moment only to get back up and grab his stick again. "I'm not giving up."

"You don't need to hurt yourself anymore though. Come on, I think you've done enough for the day. When the doctor said take it easy, I don't think he meant this, Niall." Zayn is up on his skates with his hand around Niall's right wrist. "Come on. Fifteen minutes a day is long enough until you get some strength back."

Niall looks down at Zayn's hand. He hesitates in his question. "Is your hand warm or cold? I don't like cold hands but I can't tell." He takes his arm away. "It may not be what he wants, but it’s what I want."

Zayn furrows his brow and removes and presses his hand against his own cheek. "It's pretty cold, but we were just sitting on the ice." He sighs and looks over at the boy. "Niall, it could get worse if you don't listen to him. Don't make me call Liam because you know he'll enforce that shit."

"Fuck Liam. I mean, right now- not period. I like Liam." He glances at him then back at the net. "Don't you have someone to go fuck? Sex is more important than my wellbeing; I'm sure sex is more important than me trying to improve myself." He skates across the ice towards the goal again.

Zayn sighs. "I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, it was goodbye sex. He never broke up with Rachel and he said he lied when he said he loved me. Just wanted to throw me off my game in the finals." He looks down at the ice and starts to chip away at the top layer with his blade. "I should have stayed. I just missed him and thought it would be my last chance to try and get him to like me."

"That worked out didn't it?" Niall rolls his eyes. He's still not ready to forgive him. He positions the puck again and he raises his stick. He looks back at Zayn. A boy would do it himself, a man would ask for help. "Can you help me?"

Zayn's head shot up at the question. "Uh, yeah. Sure. You serious?"

He cautiously skates over and gets behind Niall just as he did before. "You just have relearn stick control. That's all. Since you can't feel how hard you're gripping the stick, you're doubting yourself that’s all. You'll just have work on muscle memory and your shot will be killer again.

Niall nods wrapping his fingers around the stick. He's doing what Zayn said he would do. He's loosening and tightening his grip. "Shit." Now that Zayn said he'd doubt himself he really is doubting himself.

Zayn closes his hand around Niall's right and looks up at the boy. "Your grip is really slack. Tighten it until I say stop." He feels the muscles under his fingers tighten as they're told and just when they get where they should be, "Stop."

He moves out in front and looks at Niall's stance. "You're protecting your right. Everyone is going to look at you and be able to tell that's your weak side. Elbow out a little more so it looks natural."

Niall does what he's told until he's in a somewhat normal position. He feels better really. Quickly he pulls back his stick and once Zayn is out of the way he strikes, watching the puck sail into the net.

Zayn smiles brightly. "See? Now, it's all muscle memory. Don't loosen your grip or worry about a puck. Just take a couple swings until you get used to it."

He watches as Niall continues to do as he's told. After a minute or two of that, he stops the blond. "Great. Now put your stick down and skate around for five minutes while singing your alphabet or counting to a thousand. Trust me."

Niall doesn't know how to take that, but he does it. He skates off at a cautious pace while singing to himself. "A, B, C, D, E...." He continues to sing under his breath while concentrating on where he was going to keep from getting hurt.

Zayn counts to two hundred and runs through the alphabet twice before calling Niall back over. He hands the blond his stick and grins widely. "Okay. Grip it the same way you were before I told you to stop and get back in your proper stance."

Niall hesitates in reaching for the stick but he does anyways. He wraps his fingers around the stick holding it how he usually would before tightening his grip. He sticks his right elbow out.

"Okay. Okay I think I have it." He hits the puck and this time it misses the net only by an inch but he can't help being slightly pissed off. "Fuck!"

"Hey. That's really good. It'll just take some time." Zayn says, encouraging the blond. "Come on, one more shot, then we need to go so the rink manager can work on the ice." He grabs the puck and skates back before setting it where it should be and steps aside. "Alright, you got this."

Niall rolls his shoulders back nodding. He pulls the stick back this time watching it slide into the goal.

"Yes!" He threw his stick down against the ice rink grinning triumphantly.

Zayn smiles ecstatically and claps enthusiastically for the boy. "Told you you could do it. Now all you have to do it remember that when you practice again." He picks up Niall stick and holds it for him. "Don't expect immediate success the next time though. Your muscle won't remember it that quickly, but at least you started to train it."

Niall smiles softly. He's never directed his smile towards Zayn. "Thanks." He doesn't think anything of it kissing his cheek and skating off the rink after he picked up his puck and helmet.

Zayn stands there for a second and grips at his cheek before shaking his head and skating after Niall. He couldn't wait to see Niall back on the ice for good. "So the NHL posts their draft list in an hour. Want to go out and grab a beer while we wait for it to get posted. Sounds fun, yeah?"

Niall sighs. "All they saw of me was my blood. I'm not going to get drafted." He collapses onto the bench unlacing his skates. He throws each in front of him slipping his shoes on. "Although a beer sounds bloody amazing."

"They watched you play a fantastic game that didn't quite end the way it should have. You were great that game." Zayn compliments as he skates over until he remembers that his shoes and behind the bleachers on the other side of the rink.

"Let's go then. I'll buy your first couple rounds at the bar." He places Niall's stick in the bench area before skating back across the ice to change his shoes.

Niall nods. He tosses the stick with the others while hiding his puck in his pocket. "Yeah a shot or two sounds great." He heads towards the door only stopping until Zayn came.

\------------

"Thanks again, but really I can pay for myself." Niall assures entering the small but quaint pub. Luckily it was quiet and not the loud pounding music he wanted to avoid. He sits on a bar stool taking his phone out. Lately he's been contemplating texting Brian. 'Hey. I don't know if you'll respond but can I talk to you?'

Zayn sits down next to him and orders two tequila shots and two pints. Niall says he can pay for himself, but Zayn isn't going to let him. The drinks are set in front of him and he slides a shot and pint over to Niall. "Here. You looked good out there on the ice today."

Niall's phone vibrated on the bar counter. 'About what? I thought you didn't see this working out?'

Niall downs the shot sipping at his pint. "I looked good?"He bites his lip reading over the message. 'It’s not that I just have commitment issues.'

Zayn blushes furiously. "I meant like you're doing a lot better on the ice already. I thought I heard Louis say that the doctor didn't want you back out there for at least another month. Just saying you looked good for not supposed to be there."

Zayn's brow furrows at Niall's phone lights up again. 'Niall, I'm 25 years old. My parents are begging me to settle down and I work all the time. I need someone who can deal with that and still see a possible future together. I know I come on strong, but I really like you.'

"I'm not supposed to be on the ice, but I clearly stopped caring." Niall shrugs. He kind of ignores Zayn in favor of texting. 'I like you too. I just don't want to be disappointed.'

Zayn huffs as he realises he's being passed up for a piece of technology. He quickly downs his shot and orders another two. If Niall is going to ignore, he'll just get shitfaced. Works for him.

'You're worried about me disappointing you? Trust me, I don't want to. After our date, I was actually really looking forward to seeing you again, but then you basically said no.'

Niall frowns. 'I didn't say no to dating, I just meant no to anything serious. Look I really like you. Maybe we can try but I can't promise that we'll be together forever.' He gulps about a quarter of his pint sighing.

'Fine. What are you doing tonight? I got out of work early so we can still do dinner if you haven't eaten yet.'

Zayn looks over at the blond. "What’s got you sighing? Boy troubles?" He's joking of course, but doesn't realise how right he is.

'I'm at a bar if you want to come by? It's off Fairview and Ninth.' Niall looks to Zayn. "Is it that obvious? God I need to conceal my problems better."

Zayn blinks down quickly downing another shot. "I just took a wild guess. Lucky me, I was right." He chuckles humourlessly. "So what's the problem with your man then?"

'I'll be there in twenty.'

Niall bites his lip. "He's three years older and he's ready to settle down but I'm not quite there yet." He finishes his pint off sighing.

"Then tell him that. If he's pressuring you to settle down, then maybe he's not right for you." Zayn shrugs and downs his third shot of the night. He reaches for his pint and begins to sip at it. "I mean, what do you know about this guy? He seems pushy."

Niall smiles dazedly. "No he's so... Great. I was drunk when I met him and he didn't take advantage of me. We had a date he paid for and he wanted to know about me. We went back to his place and there was some groping but nothing bad."

He realizes that doesn't answer Zayn's question though. Did he really know anything about Brian?

Zayn furrows his brow as he sips at his beer again. "That's great and all, but what do you know about him? He's three years older and wants to settle down. Is that all you know?" He doesn't want to seem like he's interrogating Niall, but even he knows people need more than that to be in a relationship. Then again, he thought he knew Andy and look where that got him.

"I know his parents are trying to get him to settle down." It falls silent after that. As much as he hates to admit it, Zayn is right. He doesn't even know Brian's last name and that's a problem.

Finishing off his beer, Zayn is pretty much buzzing with three tequila shots and a pint. He orders another pint though and looks over at Niall. "Maybe you should ask him questions. Like, I don't tell people shit about myself unless they ask. Maybe he's the same. What's he even look like?"

Niall sees him enter so instead he points. "That's what he looks like." He gets off the stool to greet the taller man, pulling him into a hug. "Hey."

Brian smiles brightly. "Hey." He looks over to see Zayn and holds his hand out for the boy. "I'm Brian. Nice to meet you."

Zayn gives him a quick once over and figures Niall will be done with him in a week. He shakes the man's hand anyway. "Zayn. I played with Niall on the college hockey team."

Niall hopes Brian won't recognize the name Zayn and possibly start something. "Yeah why don't you sit down and get comfortable?" He orders a pint for him getting his wallet out to pay.

"Thanks. I can pay you know." Brian says as he pulls out his own wallet.

Zayn rolls his eyes. "Well if you two are going to get cozy, I'm just going to go back to my dorm. Probably best anyway. I've had three tequila shots and two pints too many." He downs the rest of his pint and signals for his tab.

Niall bites his lip. "Zayn, you're drunk maybe I should help you home, love." He doesn't even think about the name he just called Zayn.

Zayn shakes his head. "Nah. It's only like two blocks from here. Besides, if I need a ride or something I'll call Liam and interrupt their sex."

Brian chuckles. "You sure? I haven't had any yet. I can drive you home still."

Niall sighs sitting back. "I guess we'll see you later then." He finishes off Brian's pint when he wasn't looking, smiling happily.

Zayn pays his tab and heads towards the door. He looks back to see Brian calling Niall a thief and holding his empty pint glass up to the bartender signalling for more. He scoffs and rolls his eyes before heading out the door.

Brian turns to Niall and smiles softly. "So what have you been up to these last few weeks? I feel horrible I should have texted you or something."

Niall turns his head moving his hair away from his neck so he could see the deep purple scar. "It was all over the news. College kid nearly paralyzed by a hockey accident. That happened to be me." He grips Brian's left hand with his right. "You feel that right? The texture and the warmth? I can't feel anything."

Brian frowns over at the blond. "I heard about it, but I didn't even think... God are you okay? Shit. I should have called. I just didn't make the connection." He looks down at their hands and moves to grab Niall's left hand. "Is it all over or just your right?"

Niall shakes his head. "Just my right. My hand and up to right below the elbow. My nerves are dead." He shrugs ordering another shot. "I'm fine though, really."

"That's crazy. So what about hockey and everything? God, how are you dealing with this?" Brian grabs his pint and takes a small sip. "How does something like that even happen? Aren't you guys covered in pads?"

"Yeah we are, but I was slammed into the boards hard enough to knock my helmet off. Um, another guy tackled Zayn and he tripped. His skate cut right through. I don't remember it though." Niall licks his lips. "I'm going to physical therapy and what not."

"Who hits hard enough to knock a helmet off? Whoever it is needs help. That's ridiculous." He finishes his pint and looks over at Niall. "So do you still need to eat or did you already grab something?"

Niall shakes his head. "I ate a pretty big lunch, I'll be fine." He stands stumbling forward. "Oh fuck, I think I'm tipsier than I thought."

Brian chuckles. "Do you need to go home? I don't want you to be out if you should be sleeping off the alcohol or something."

Niall's phone lights up with a text from Zayn. 'Homeeee. Don't forget to talk about Brian. (:’

Niall reads the text eyes lighting up after remembering the earlier conversation. "Oh yeah!"He twirls around in a stumbled circle to face Brian. "I want to get to know you!"

The older man chuckles a bit and places a hand on Niall's waist to steady him. "Well I'm pretty much an open book. What do you want to know?" He orders himself a shot of whiskey and another pint and figures that should be enough. He hasn't eaten all day so he shouldn't go to hard.

Niall thinks about it. "Family. Tell me about your parents. Do you have any siblings?" He finds himself climbing back onto the bar stool ordering another shot.

Brian knocks back his whiskey before looking back at Niall. "My mother's name is Brielle and she's the most amazing woman I've ever met. She raised four children on her own after my father, Braydon, was killed. He was a cop in Baltimore and was killed in a shootout when I was young."

He sipped at his beer trying to think what to say about his siblings. "The twins, Brent and Brandon, are seniors in high school this year and my sister, Brianna, just turned twenty one last week."

Niall nods his head. "Wow. I'm sorry about your dad. So why does your mom want you to settle down so bad?" He knocks back a lager bomb, blushing at the question on his tongue. "Maybe... Hopefully I'll get to meet your family one day?"

"Mom just wants me to be happy. She'd rather have me quit my job and get a less stressful one and find the man of my dreams." He rolls his eyes and sips at the pint again.

Brian looks at the boy and laughs. "Good luck getting us all together. Brianna lives in California and twins are going to Kansas to play basketball in college. Maybe my mom though. She'll laugh at you." He smiles and chuckles at the scene he's picturing.

Niall pouts holding his palm over his heart. "I'm offended that I'd be laughed at. Am I funny looking or something?" He takes Brian's pint out of spite drinking half of it then handing it back. "You're mean."

"Hey! Quit drinking my beer!" He flags down the bartender and asks for another shot. "Mom wouldn't do it to be rude. She'd just find it absolutely hysterical that you have a slight accent and that you're not black." Brian shrugs. "She thinks it's funny. Brianna brought home a German fiancé and mom nearly died of laughter."

"Am I too white? I could get a spray tan." He rolls up the cuff of his right sleeve to his elbow. "Holy shit!" Niall shouts catching the attention of the patrons in the quiet pub. "I am white."

Brian nearly falls out of his chair at the look on Niall's face and the amount of giggles that come along with that face. He downs his whiskey and turns to face the blond. "Maybe we should head out. We're drunk and loud and my couch is a lot softer. What do you say?" He pouts over at boy and tries to get him to see it his way.

Niall taps his chin ultimately nodding. "Yeah! Yeah let's go!" When he's drunk the small accent is more noticeable. He tugs on Brian's wrist with a few short yanks. "Couch sounds nice. Bed sounds better."

Brian pays their tab and throws an arm around Niall's shoulders and kisses his temple. "Thought you wanted to get to know me, not my body." He walks down the sidewalk pulling Niall along with him towards his apartment. "So what else do you want to know about me?"

Niall yawns under his breath. "You know I still don't know your last name and that seems like a good thing to know about a person." He stumbles down the street pressed against Brian's side for support. "And I meant your bed to sleep in."

"Johnson. Brian Johnson. Nothing fancy. Pretty common so go luck liking up my records if that's something you do." He moves his arm down to Niall's waist. "I'll let you borrow some sweats and you can crash at my place." He leads them up the stairs of his apartment complex and fumbles with his keys in the lock.

"I was planning to sleep here. Uh... Are we like a thing?" Niall wonders aloud walking inside when the door is pushed open. "Same as I remember." Niall cracks, grinning.

Brian bites at his bottom lip. "I don't know what we are. I mean, I want us to be a thing, but I didn't know what you wanted." He sighs and runs a hand over his head. "Why don't we discuss this in the morning when you're sober."

"I'm sober!" Niall exclaims while simultaneously tripping over the leg of a dining room chair. "So I'm buzzed," he murmurs against the floor his face is pressed against.

Brian giggles and moves to haul Niall up from the ground. "Why don't I just get you those sweats and we head to bed? There's always the morning." He slings Niall over his shoulder and carries him back to the bedroom and softly set him on the bed. He headed over to his dresser and started rifling through it to find a pair of sweats for the boy.

"You're like five inches taller! Your sweats won't fit me, Jordan." He hopes Brian gets the reference otherwise he'd look like a dumbass. Although tripping over a chair probably didn't seem all that smart.

"Ugh, clothes." Niall groans shoving his jeans down and stripping his shirt off.

Brian looks questioningly over at the boy. "I'm not a hundred percent, but did you just call me MJ?" He tosses a pair of pants over at the blond's face. "You need something. Have a little decency, babe." He says as he turns and grabs a second pair for himself.

"I hope you're thinking Michael Jordan and not Michael Jackson." Niall laughs at his own joke maybe a little too loudly. "And everyone wants to see my legs,” Niall smirks pulling on the sweats. As he expected he had to roll his pant legs up so they weren't going past his feet.

"Yes, I mean Michael Jordan. He was my idol growing up." Brian laughs as he pulls his sweats on and moves to turn down the comforter. He crawls into the sheets and waits for Niall to join him. "Although, Jackson was a hero too. I had the Jerry curls and little white glove when I was younger."

Niall climbs under the covers snuggling close. "And I called you Jordan because you're like... Huge." He yawns loudly, nose scrunched. "Jackson is good yeah. Prefer Irish music myself. Flogging Molly, Mumford and Sons, Dropkick Murphy's, Justin Bieber."

Brian chuckles breathlessly. "The Biebs isn't Irish, Niall. He's Canadian." He carded his fingers through the blond tresses in front of him. "We'll talk tomorrow. For now, just get some sleep."

"I know he is. I know everything about him." Niall yawns but nods. He mumbles a goodnight before he's fallen asleep.

\------------

Niall collapses onto the bench unlacing his skates and nudging them off. "Thanks." He's looking at Zayn offering another smile. Zayn had taken him to the rink to work more with his hand and its improving.

"No problem. The more you practice at it, the quicker it'll come to you. You're already almost there. Next we'll have to get you checking with your right again."

Zayn looks over at the blond and licks his lips subconsciously. Lately the urge to just shove Niall up against the boards and fuck him on the ice has been overwhelming and he's wondering if he's the only one feeling the tension.

Niall shudders at the thought for a minute. "Actually it might not be bad it’s not like my arm will hurt." He laughs to himself gaze sweeping over the ice. "I can't wait to play again."

Zayn chuckles. "Won't hurt, but you could still injure it and not feel the pain. As for playing again, you'll get there soon and then you can play plenty for the both of us." He lets his eyes wander down the smaller boy's frame and watched as the residual sweat from their practice dries across his shoulders. It's insane how much of a turn on that is for Zayn.

Niall bites his lip. "Is it weird for me to change out of my jersey here or should I go into the locker room?" He licks the sweat off his upper lip standing up while his hands went to the hem.

"Nah. We're the only two here. Go for it." Zayn is sure he's not the only one feeling the tension and maybe he can have his moment right now. He watches in earnest as Niall's tongue traces away at his lip and Zayn groans. "God I really want to fuck you."

Niall stops hands leaving the hem alone. He raises an eyebrow. "Um, yeah..." He sits back on the bench. How is he supposed to know whether Zayn is joking or not?

"Sorry, mate, but that won't happen. Brian and I have a good thing going." He really hopes Zayn had only been messing.

"Shit. I didn't mean to- I'm really sorry- I totally forgot about Brian... Fuck, can we just forget that ever happened?” Zayn is mortified. He swore he had said that in his head, but Niall's reaction proved otherwise. He dropped his head in his hands and moved slightly away from Niall.

"Hey," Niall sighs settling his hand on Zayn's back, right in between his shoulder blades. "Don't worry about it. At least I tolerate it." He's trying to joke with him to make him feel better.

Zayn kind of glares, kind of smiles up at Niall. "Joking really isn't going to solve this, you know." The darker male huffs and pulls out his phone to distract him. "Maybe I just need to find someone. Just need a good fuck I guess. It's been awhile since Andy..."

"Maybe you just need to slow down. You're nice and we can be friends, but that's it really." Niall's already managed to slip his shoes on. "I'll see you around." He waves, exiting the building where the rink was in.

Zayn bangs his head against the plexiglass behind him and yelps at the pain. He can't believe he did that. He's such an idiot. At least Niall was still willing to be his friend. Sure there would probably always be that awkward layer of tension now, but at least they didn't want to kill each other anymore.

He sighs and grabs his bag before heading for the exit. He stops at the electricity breakers and looks back at the ice. He'd never play hockey again, but he was helping a friend get to the draft picks and that was good enough for him. With one final smirk to his home for the last four years, he switches the power off and heads outside to the warm heat of spring.


End file.
